


Absolute Beginners

by poetdameron



Category: That '70s Show
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Donna is a witch, F/M, Fez is a cat, Jackie is a witch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-25
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-08-24 13:18:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 24,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8373646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poetdameron/pseuds/poetdameron
Summary: [Modern AU - Magic AU] Ever since Jackie and Donna moved to the apartment in front of Hyde and Eric's, life has been... hard for Hyde. Things would be way easier if they weren't that nice, that fun, and that pretty. Man, witches shouldn't be pretty.





	1. A Kid's Party

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, everyone! For those who follow me back on tumblr, you know this week I've started a Halloween Special and one of the things included in it, is this fanfic. 
> 
> I had a lot of fun working on it, building the world for this AU and doing art work for it, too. It's very simple and silly, but I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did doing it.
> 
> This fanfic will be updated every monday, and 'Heart Like Yours' will still be updated every week on Friday (or saturday when the party is too hard in friday, sorry lol).
> 
> If you liked this and you have tumblr, please consider rebloging the [original post](http://jacquelineshyde.tumblr.com/post/152272695670/absolute-beginners-chapter-i-a-kids-party) to support me! Thank you!

**Absolute Beginners**

**Chapter I – A kid’s party**

There was some chick 80s song coming out the apartment in front of theirs and Hyde muffed a scream on his pillow when Forman’s giggle filled his room.

Hyde moved a little, looking at his phone for the hour. 9:33 am. A groan escaped him and the hardness of his body became too obvious. Last night’s dream had been intense and he hated his nature even more after realizing who it was in his imaginary bed. This needed to stop, just like the party between his legs.

By all means, this was not his idea of waking up to a fine Saturday.

Ever since those goddamn freaky girls moved in, he hasn’t had a good night sleep or a nice weekend: if Forman wasn’t over at hers letting himself being handle like a toy, they were at theirs cooking, giggling and making his place smell like wild flowers.

It sickened him, how his life has turned out after running away from this kind of crap almost since the day he was born.

He stood from his bed and did a slow trip to the bathroom, taking his time to piss and almost _cry_ from the force of his damn erection. The thing didn’t give up and he seriously needed to discharge. After the most painful minutes of his life, Hyde cleaned up and dressed for the day.

Today’s cores included taking out the trash, which meant he would had to go out and probably see Forman flirting with the redhead, Donna, in the hallway.

Super.

Looking at his reflection, he arched an eyebrow to his reddened cheeks. This was the third night in a row in which his dreams gave him a hard on in the morning. It was all that little fairy’s, Jackie’s, fault.

Her perfume and the pressure of her lips against his cheek, the way her eyes seemed to know how to go beyond his walls. Insufferable.

“Good mooooorning!” Forman said once he stepped outside his room, his friend was holding the freaks’ black cat in both hands. “Mr. Fez is going to stay with us for the morning, Donna is accompanying Jackie to see her father and Fez needs a place.”

“For fuck’s sake, Forman. Just because you want to nail Donna doesn’t mean you should be the one doing nanny work with their freaking cat.” the animal moved its ears, it seemed like if it was smirking. “Look at it! It doesn’t need a babysitter, it knows how to walk the street alone!”

“You are talking like if Fez was some kind of big boy.” Forman laughed and Hyde saw the second the cat nodded to him once he was left on the floor. Unbelievable. “It’s a kitten, Hyde. And it will be only for a few hours.”

“Right. Don’t let that shit get into my room,” he said as he took the trash from the kitchen, “otherwise I’m showing your naked baby pictures to its mother.”

“Hyde!”

He left the theme there with a smirk, walking out their apartment as the cat sniffed. Or laughed. Who knows at this point? These witches were ruining his life.

******

“Oh! By the way!” Eric yelled from his window, Jackie looked up by instinct and then realized he wasn’t talking to her. Fez was there with him. “I invited the girls to Betsy’s party!”

“Forman!” and Jackie looked behind her, Steven was walking to the building’s site for trash with a frown. “It’s a kid’s party!”

“And we know how to do pretty crafts for the girls!” she answered, excitement showing in her voice. She had two good reasons to be happy about this. “The girls are so gonna love it! Some are for protection, and others to find happiness. Who knows? We can maybe do some to find love. Maybe I’ll do one for you.”

One was to piss off Steven, the second to be there for Donna.

Steven looked at her with the frown going supernova on his face, it made her smirk harder and he only passed her with a shrug. Pissing off this guy had become her favorite hobby ever since he rejected her honest interest, two months ago. It was amazing, how he actually resisted her and how she didn’t felt like doing something about it but let it be.

If they weren’t there for a date, then she was sure she could win him over pranks and laughs, just to have a friend. One doesn’t find someone like him this often.

“I guess you are going to support Donna.” he said suddenly. She had left their trash and was only waiting for him to do the same. Steven looked at her with a sigh. “I’m sorry, I can’t imagine you with kids. It must be a nightmare to them.”

“Ugh, Steven!” she smacked his chest, it was firm and warm against her skin, the sparkle it send to the bottom of her stomach made her give him her back. “Kids love me! Especially little girls.” a lie, but why does he needs to know? “Like I said, our necklaces and bracelets will be a blast for them. All little girls love good look amulets.”

“Yeah, well—given by you two? No, thanks.” he walked away from her and Jackie saw Donna waving at her from her Lincoln. Time to go. “Just one thing, Burkhart.”

“Uh?”

Donna was driving slower to her spot, her eyes told Jackie she was wondering what was going on between her and Steven. These kind of scenes were starting to be more common by now, but Donna will always worry too much about her. The feeling was mutual, though, and Eric’s laugh over them made her think about her friend and that scrawny boy’s relationship.

Then, Steven’s finger near her face made her look at him again. “Hey! Put that finger down!”

“Stay away from Betsy. I don’t want any of your crap near my goddaughter. You hear me?”

“Oh, such a bad, intimidating, big boy…” she caressed the side of his face and the way he jumped at her touch told her everything she needed to know.

“Are you two flirting again!? EWWWW!” Eric said from the window and Jackie rolled her eyes, while Steven flipped him the bird. His laugh filled her ears before looking back at Steven.

He wasn’t that bad at acting, but she was the queen at it. “Whatever, man. Have a good day!”

She ran to the Lincoln, it was a relic her biological father had given her. Jumping inside, she laughed with Donna when Steven sighed and said, “Fuck off, wicked.”

******

Donna looked at her friend after the visit was over.

Seeing Jack Burkhart was never easy for Jackie, even when it had become gentler with the pass few years.

The first time they came here, she was ten and Jackie was nine, and it had been painful to see. Jackie couldn’t stop crying and asking to be taken back home, to her irresponsible mother and her criminal father. Back then, they had just met, but Donna knew it must had been hell for Jackie to get used to living with a family she didn’t know.

It was their people’s law, to give an orphan kid of their kind to a stable and loving family that will train them and prepare them to the human world. So Jackie was put with them, a family of five, all girls, all witches, and a human father.

Right now, Jackie seemed like she could use some Pinciotti family time. Being with her adoptive family always seemed to bring her spirit back and Donna wondered if she should’ve suggested it. Yet, going back home was a long trip. And they had a party tonight.

“You alright?”

She nodded. “I’m now completely sure Steven knows.”

Hyde again, Donna rolled her eyes. “Okay, your infatuation with this jerk needs to stop.” she said, it was too much. “The guy hates us, it’s not gonna happen, Jackie.”

“It’s not about that, you goon!” she answered, crossing her arms as they walked towards the Lincoln on the prison’s parking lot. “I mean—I’m sure he knows about us. And about Fezzy, too.”

“Oh.”

That was something important, she cleared her throat and waited for an explanation as she searched for what to say next.

“What makes you think that?”

Jackie sighed. “Everything. Listen, Donna… the guy is smart and clever… and I have a big suspicion about him, but I’m not so sure.”

Donna looked at her small frame, “Is that why you sent Fez over there?”

“Of course, why would Fez want to stay with other guys?”

“He’s a pig.”

“Mh-hmm.” she answered. “I mean, next time… a pig, Donna. Or a rat. Or something disgusting. Not a cute cat.”

“Yeah, you are right.”

They climbed into the car once Jackie opened, she was driving them back to the city. It always relaxed her to do so, but for the way she was sighing and looking at the road with such concentration, Donna understood it wasn’t making its thing on her. Their previous theme must have her on edge.

“Are you scared?”

“Last time someone knew we are witches, they erased his memory.” Jackie said.

Randy. She had actually liked the guy, he was their friend and Donna was sure he was into her, but never did anything. Didn’t have time for it. He had discovered their nature by accident and the Council has thought he wasn’t of complete trust to keep it that way, so his memories of both, Donna and Jackie, had disappeared and so did they from the city.

A year and a half later, they were encountering this problem again.

“I don’t think he would ever say something, though.” Jackie admitted, then sighed. Donna started to search for a station to listen. “He’s only worried about his friends and family.”

“What do you mean?”

“He kind of threatened me,“ Jackie looked at her, “said he didn’t want us near Betsy. She is his goddaughter, can you believe that? Someone saw him and say ‘ah, yes, this feelingless asshole should take care of my daughter if something ever happens to me’. These Kelso people sound interesting.”

Donna laughed at that. Yeah, that sounded unlikely, to name someone like Hyde as your kid’s guardian. But hey, they didn’t truly know the guy. He didn’t let them know him, anyway.

“Yeah, he doesn’t like me with Eric.”

The silence that followed make her feel warm on her cheeks, she could feel Jackie’s eyes on her and a smile formed on her friend’s lips as she bit her bottom lip.

“So, you two…?”

“Almost there, I think.”

“Oh.” Jackie exclaimed. “You could do so much better, but _yaaay_!”

 They laughed together before falling into comfortable silence.

Eric was nice. Incredible actually. His good heart and handsome face was only the smallest of the reasons why she liked him so much. The boy had also a kind voice, honest intentions and was transparent. His loyalty was a poem she wanted to kiss forever. If things kept going this way for them, she may end up loving him.

“He is really nice to me, Jackie.”

“I know, that’s the only reason why I like him. Other than that, I don’t see the appeal. At all.”

Donna rolled her eyes at her friend, “That’s because you are into jerks.” she answered. “Which reminds me… are you still into Hyde? Because it would be nice if we end up dating best friends! A little bit cliché, but I can handle it.”

Jackie snorted at that, “Donna, we were just saying the guy may know we can transform him into a frog, and you are already making double dates plans?”

“Well, if he knows…”

“Donna!”

“I’m joking, I’m joking!” she said between laughs. “We have to do something about it.”

“Yep.”

“What are we gonna do?”

Jackie sighed. “Tonight. After the party and Fez tells us what he found, we are confronting. I just want to know something.”

“What?”

“Just a feeling.”

******

Kelso was Eric’s oldest friend.

They had met back in kindergartner and had been friends ever since. When he met Hyde, he introduced the two of them and quickly became an inseparable trio.

In fact, it had been Kelso’s idea to live all together once out of high school and in collage. But then he had met Brooke, fell for her, got her pregnant and had to get married almost in a heartbeat. Which was just fine for him, somehow they had make it work and they were a happy family of three.

Now, Betsy was four years old and was having her first sleepover at her home to celebrate Halloween with her other four years old friends. So Brooke and Kelso had invited him and Hyde to have some adult company, too. Inviting Donna and Jackie hadn’t been his smartest move, but Brooke ached to meet the girls and he _needed_ to spend more time with Donna.

“You ready, man?” Hyde asked and Eric looked up at him, he was just putting his watch on.

“Just a second, can you please go see if the girls are ready?”

His friend, basically his brother, groaned in response but went there anyway. Eric smiled, he enjoyed all the little victories.

Turning off the light and leaving his room, the memory of Hyde’s old house, the horrible place he had grown up in, filled his memory like every time he thought of his friend as his brother. Hyde had been living with his family since Edna, his mother, left him alone at 16.

Eric still had the livid image of that night, sitting in the rooftop outside his window, back at his parent’s place, and the promise they did.

Children’s games, little laughs, some kind of connection between them. Hyde was his brother.

“Ladies.” he saluted them when he encounter his crew in the hallway. Donna and Jackie were both standing near their door, Hyde was eying Jackie who was making faces at him. “Isn’t it too early for foreplay, guys? Calm down, we are going to a kid’s party!”

“Forman…” Hyde said as a warning, Jackie had crossed her arms over her chest. “Keep it that way and you’ll be missing a couple of teeth during dinner later.”

“Fine, fine.”

This was strange, it also meant he was right. Hyde liked Jackie, probably quit a lot since he was denying it the best he could. But years and years of knowing his layers had given Eric a clear view of his body language and his desperate words to cover up. Hyde more than liked Jackie.

“Well, let’s go.” suggested Donna.

Eric took her hand and she smiled at him, which meant it was okay. Hyde and Jackie sighed behind them and, before they entered the elevator, the girl’s cat appeared in the hallway.

“Hey, Fezy!” Jackie called him and the black cat went running to her arms, she carried him. “What are you doing here, boy?”

“We have to leave him inside, he can get lost…”

“Yeah, I’ll do it. Don’t worry. Let’s go, boy.”

Jackie took the cat back at the apartment as Eric held the elevator’s door open, Hyde had followed her and he saw Donna’s little smile from the corner of his eye. So his girl had noticed, too.

“What did you called me?” Hyde said, Jackie looked at him with a frown, opening the door and leaving the cat behind it.

“I said nothing, Steve.”

“You called me ‘son of a bitch’.”

“Nuh-uh.” she answered while closing the door, starting to walk back to them. “Maybe it was Fezy, he can be a little dense. Doesn’t like any men around me.”

“Your cat called me names?”

Eric laughed at that, sometimes he could swear that cat did talked. Maybe Jackie did, too. Or maybe it was just a cat people joke.

“Who else would be? I never curse.”

******

“Fuck!”

“Good thing you never curse.”

The girl looked up at Hyde with such strong annoyance, Brooke had to laugh a little before shaking her head and leaving the band aids near her friend.

“Thank you, man.” Hyde said, she only nodded and returned her attention to the cookies she was serving for the girls back at her living room.

Jackie had cut her finger by accident while doing craft with her daughter and her friends. It wasn’t truly a big deal but the tinier the cut, the more it burns. Hyde had taken her to the kitchen then, helped her clean it in her sink and now was smiling as he put a Hello Kitty band aid on her finger.

“That better?”

“Yeah… thanks, Steven.”

Brooke smiled at that. It’s been a while since Hyde looked so calm and comfortable around someone that weren’t any of them. He did liked this girl, seeing them together was starting to be truly a pleasure with how funny things can get around them. Their banter was also cute, and the way one looked at the other as the person was distracted was just sweet.

Hyde then laughed, he had been trying hard not to, but now that Jackie was safe, he could do it happily.

“You cut yourself with a Dora the Explorer scissor…” he said, Jackie frowned and crossed her arms over her chest.

“And it was childproof.” Brooke added, carrying two plates with cookies. “Now, leave the poor girl alone and help me with these.”

“This is why you invited us, isn’t it?” Hyde said, taking the plates from her hands and walking towards the door. “So we can serve the party for you.”

“Of course that’s it, otherwise, why would I want my husband’s forever single crew with us?” she answered, sparking a smile in Jackie. “And with that, I mean you. Eric has it covered.”

Hyde rolled his eyes and left the kitchen to a smiling Brooke, who now looked at Jackie. “Are you okay?”

These girls were lovely.

Donna was incredible smart, a pleasure to talk to, and definitely into their Eric; he liked her so much, too. Brooke loved to see them together, maybe they would last long enough to make it to the next level, be their next married couple to go out with. Donna seemed to not mind some of Eric’s childish moments, and he definitely didn’t mind her smartass remarks. They were good.

While Jackie was fun, not only funny, but actual _fun_. She snapped back Hyde’s jokes to him, burning him with a smile on both their faces and their chemistry was so obvious, it wouldn’t surprise her at all if they ended up dating. Hell, Brooke was sure she may the one for their Hyde. If she could stand his shit, then she was it.

“Ah, yes. Don’t worry about it. I actually really feel stupid… Steven is right, it’s lame the way I cut my finger.”

“It’s not, don’t say that. It happens to everyone. Have you any idea how many times have I got injured with children’s toys? Paper from their night stories? Really, having a child is being bruised inside and out. Especially out.”

“But it’s also great, right?” Jackie leaned on the kitchen’s bar, looking at Brooke as she put more cookies into other plates.

“Yeah… life changing, difficult no matter how prepared you are. But wonderful.”

It was.

Betsy had taught her so much since the moment she found out she was pregnant. Making the decision to keep her pregnancy was the first big and difficult choice Brooke ever did, the second one was giving her today husband a chance.

Michael had been famous around school when they met. He had a tendency of being unfaithful and do too many flings to count in a month. When she started to see him, her idea was to have an easy relationship, just to have some good times and then, Betsy came to their lives.

It wasn’t such a big surprised that at first he wanted to run away, but then he showed up at her home, said he wanted to be involved, then asked her out. She let him prove himself during her pregnancy. It was hard at times, especially at the beginning, but once Betsy was born and they had shared most of their times for nine months, it was ridiculous to deny she had feelings for him.

“And you like being married?” Jackie asked, the way her voice sounded so tender while doing it made Brooke smile. A dreaming girl.

“Very much, yes.”

But lately not so much. It wasn’t that she had stopped to love Michael, not by far. He was a sweet man, a great partner when it was required, and an even better father. Co-parenting with him was great, but that was all they did nowdays and it was starting to be—difficult.

“Are you alright…?” Jackie murmured when she got lost on her thoughts, Brooke looked up and smiled, offering her a plate with cookies.

“Why don’t you help me here? I’m fine.” she assured her. “Just a little bit tired.”

Jackie nodded, taking two plates with her and Brooke held the other two. Together, they walked outside the kitchen to the living room, were the party was as cheerful as when the younger girl had to run to get some fixing.

Donna looked at Jackie with urgent eyes, and she left the plates on the coffee table where the girls were at it with the plates Hyde had brought, then ran into her friend as far from the crowded area as they could.

Brooke moved her head to one side, then looked at Michael talking to Hyde in one corner. His eyes followed Jackie to Donna, and his lips did a white line on his face, then he looked at Hyde with determination eyes.

Her heart hammered inside her chest. She knew that look, it was the look he used to give her when—Brooke shook her head. No time to think about that. It’s just… two months, two months without action and none of them seems to know what is going on or how to fix it. Michael wouldn’t cheat on her, not now. He didn’t do it during her pregnancy, he won’t now.

Right?

******

A punch landed on his arm and Kelso jumped on his couch, looking back at his attacker with his hand on the injured area. “Ouch!” he said, then looked at one too smiley Hyde. “Dammit, Hyde! That hurt!”

“You were staring again, man. I’m just doing as you asked.” he replied and Kelso rolled his eyes.

Telling Hyde this was a damn bad idea, but now he didn’t have more options. He also couldn’t risk doing something stupid. The last time he looked too much to a girl that wasn’t his wife, he almost lost Brooke before Betsy had been born. He swore to never lay a hand on a woman who wasn’t her, and while the idea sounded really stupid at the time, now he understood it.

Yes, because Brooke had tried to date someone else when he fucked up that time. And seeing her with that prick, no. Shit got real after that.

If he wanted his wife, he needed to act like one of those husbands from her long books and dramatic TV shows. He needed to be Barney and be an honest man to his Robin, he needed to be Brooke’s Mr. Big.

It’s just, Jackie’s beautiful face and petite body wasn’t helping.

“Fuck off, Hyde. You are having too much fun with this…”

So he asked Hyde to frog him every time he saw him staring too much into the new girl. And now his friend was having the time of his life.

“What are you saying, man?” he said, but his smirk let Kelso know he was damn right. “I’m just helping a friend out.”

“You are a dill-hole, Hyde…” Kelso answered, his sigh was lost in Hyde’s laugh and they both leaned their backs into the couch, getting into silence. “This sucks, man. We haven’t done it in two months. My shaft is bored of my hand!”

“Okay, Kelso… I don’t want to talk about your miseries, and secondly—you have a kid’s party here.”

“Uh, right.”

None of the girls had listened, anyway. They were too happy with Jackie’s love amulets to care about adult’s conversation. But his friend know nothing about kids, so Kelso didn’t mention it.

“She is so pretty. Why is she single? That’s the problem.”

Hyde frowned. “What?”

Of course he wouldn’t understand it, Hyde only cared about girls if they were in for a fling, he never got bothered enough to be in an actual relationship, therefore he wouldn’t understand Kelso’s struggle.

“Pretty girls shouldn’t be single, man. It makes idiots think of them in ways they shouldn’t. Of course, that’s not my case because I’m married to the hottest girl ever. But it still affects me a little. Is like a mermaid…” he shared his wisdom, Hyde looked as lost as ever, “she calls you to dangerous decisions.”

“So you think it’s her fault you are an unfaithful dumbass?”

“No!” he answered, “It’s not her fault, I’m the pig.” something Brooke had teach him. He sighed. "But when pretty girls get a boyfriend, at least that boyfriend can hit you for being a pig.”

“Alright…” Hyde murmured.

His friend was looking at him directly, and his eyes wandered on the room until he found Brooke sitting at their dinner table, talking to Donna and another mom that wanted to stay for a while. Eric was sitting with Jackie and the other girls, while Hyde was still looking at him.

Brooke cached his stare, and she smiled at him. He had also the sweetest of the wives. He never thought there could be a better wife and mother than his own, but then he had married Brooke and he had started to co-parent with her. She was awesome.

“I love Brooke, okay?” he murmured, Hyde nodded at his side. “It makes me want to cry to think I could do something stupid.”

“You are scared.”

Kelso swallowed, his fist went white over his knee, and then nodded. Hyde sighed.

“It’s okay, man. You two have a great relationship. Just… sit down and talk your crap with her, then go for it like rabbits again.”

“We can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Listen,” he looked at his friend, “you know how we were at it all the time after we got a nanny and her mom started to help us with Betsy?” Hyde nodded, “Well… it’s like if all our energy were sucked that time. Now, we are tired all the time. She has to work in the morning and I take care of Betsy, then I go to work at the station and she takes care of the baby. And when I come back, we are both too tired for it. We are adults, dammit!”

“Kelso, I know you are stupid, but come on…” he put a hand on his shoulder. “Maybe is time to change your turn at the station, and maybe is time for another nanny.”

“She hates having a nanny…”

“Well, of course. Another woman is taking care of her daughter, is only natural.” he sighed. “Okay, how about I take Betsy tomorrow and you two can… I don’t know, go on a date or something. And fuck.”

“Really?” his eyes went big. Hyde was an ass most times, but he always cared, he was always there. “You’ll do that for us? Alright, thanks!”

Hyde smiled at him, nodding. He clapped a couple of times before standing up and running to his wife to give her the news. When he did, Jackie was looking at him with a smile, then at Hyde and her eyes softened.

So, he blinked as her sat down at Brooke’s side, Jackie did have a guy to punch him for staring too much.

******

Jackie was looking at him again and Hyde smirked when he caught her mismatched eyes on him for the fourth time tonight.

She had caught him another two, but now she was completely losing the little silent competition. It was starting to be hard to deny their attraction. So he had two options, really, or he sucked it or he did her.

Hyde wondered if she would be up for that last one and not expect him to have any kind of compromises. Would she be open to that possibility? Because in that case, they could put an end to the ridiculous tension between them. But hey, to be honest, he was also sure that wasn’t happening. Jackie didn’t seem that kind of girl at all.

Then again, Brooke always gave away the image of a prude and mean too good for you girl, but she had conceived her child in a dirty bathroom on a rock concert with an unlikely man for her. Appearances aren’t all.

“God-daddy!” Betsy came to his side, Hyde looked at her. “Can you pleaaaaaase do a magic trick?”

“Uh,” he moved his hand behind her head and she looked at it waiting to see the trick, “that’s cheating…” but he was smiling as she looked at him again and with his other hand showed the little amulet she had on her neck just seconds ago.

“Ah!” she exclaimed with both hands over her collarbone, searching for her necklace. “How did you do that, god-daddy?”

Betsy was surprised, but it was nothing. In fact, it was an old technique to steal shit. He smiled anyway, and played with the necklace on his fingers until he make it disappear. Betsy clapped again, jumping in front of him before he made appear a penny from behind her ears, and her love amulet back on her neck.

“Oh! I know!” Betsy said enthusiastically, “Can we fly? Or can you make me fly?”

Hyde opened his mouth to answer when they were interrupted by the devil herself, Jackie was leaning towards Betsy at the little girl’s side.

“How is he gonna do that, uh?”

Betsy put a finger on her mouth, indicating to shut up. “It’s a secret, Miss Jackie. A good magician doesn’t reveal his secrets. It’s in the magician’s code!”

She laughed, sitting at his side and making him want to run away. Her preference was like the sun at three pm: too damn warm, it annoyed the shit out of him, and made him sweat like a pig. Not even his shades could cancel the shine of this small, always too happy, always too bitchy chick.

“Would you make me fly, too?” she asked him and Hyde swallowed.

Nobody should look at anyone that way. She held different galaxies on her eyes, like having both the sun and the moon in them. The deep different colors on her pupils made him swallow hard before he could think on an answer.

“Oh well, seems like you are already in the clouds!” she squeezed his tight and Hyde knew today he was having another dream.

“Miss Jackie, have you seen god-daddy’s magic tricks?”

“I just saw them! Very impressing.”

She wasn’t impressed, but it seemed like he had been wrong after all: she was good with kids, and the girls followed around thanks to her necklaces and promises of eternal love, big dreams and good luck. Most chicks loved that crap, Betsy and her included.

“But the flying one is cooler! We have to convince god-daddy to do it!”

“I would love to!”, Jackie looked at him now. “So, are we gonna fly together, Steven?”

He could kiss her right now, end the agony of his lips wanting to know her better. That smile, that pout and the pink of that lipstick, everything. Man, was he lost? She needed to go away, stop being this mesmerizing so near him. He shook his head.

“No?” the way she sounded disappointed made him open his eyes, Betsy was looking at the scene with her hands over her chest and red cheeks. “But I would look so good against the stars, come on…”

Fuck this girl. She was doing it on propose.

“That’s just a trick for Betsy. Right?”

Betsy smiled at him, she shouldn’t be smiling such a knowing thing. “You can take Jackie with you, god-daddy…” she said, sounding way too much like insinuating something. “I bet she can be a good girl-friend.”

“What?” they said at the same time. But then the girl laughed, and turned around to go jumping to the rest of her friends.

None of them said anything, the silence between them was heavy and thick of awkwardness and insecurities. This was new between them. After she had been into him for two weeks, they had fallen into heathen discussions about everything, to then burn each other every time they could. But actual awkward silence and this discomfort that has nothing to do with disliking each other was completely new.

“What was that…?” she asked too soft, if they weren’t this close, he wouldn’t had been able to hear it.

“Just a kid having fun, she’s too awaken to her own good. But look at her parents…” he moved a finger to Kelso and Brooke now talking to Donna and Eric, “A complete doofus and a smartass. Of course the little girl was going to be like this.”

Jackie laughed, she hadn’t moved her hand yet. Hyde thought of taking it away, or just taking it. He did nothing.

“Jackie?” Donna said, she smiled and squeezed his tight again.

Hyde looked at her with that, “I mean it, Steven. You should take me fly one day.” She said, standing up and leaving him there.

Did she knew? Not only what she did to him, but like—did she know about…? Oh.

Crap.

*******


	2. A Cat's Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hyde will have the weirdest of the conversation with someone unlikely. Donna and Eric will get to a new level in their relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update and for the mess on this chapter, too. Also, next week the update may be until Friday or something. Monday is my brother’s birthday and I will be busy with him, and so on. But I’ll try to have everything up in time anyway, but there’s a big chance for that.
> 
> About this chapter, I’m just gonna say something (because nobody noticed, lol): surprise!
> 
> If you liked this and you have tumblr, please consider rebloging the [original post](http://jacquelineshyde.tumblr.com/post/152272695670/absolute-beginners-chapter-i-a-kids-party) to support me! Thank you!

**Absolute Beginners**

**Chapter II – A Cat’s Party**

This room was as small as Donna’s, but not as smelly as Eric’s. Hyde’s, then.

He jumped into the bed first, moving the sheets to search for whatever could help his cause. The pillow ended in the floor and Fez sighed, he’ll have to use his hour a day for this.

Maybe after finding something to help Jackie. Yes. That sounded better.

Sniffing, he found a particularly sweet smell coming from the closet, and Fez jumped back in the ground to walk over there and moved his tail in contentment because the door was open and he wouldn’t have to jump like an idiot until he could reach the handle.

Hyde’s clothes were all basically the same, he couldn’t imagine how it was to wake up and go like _‘what black ugly concert shirt I am putting on today?’_ but knowing the lazy bastard, he probably just grabbed the first shirt in his view and put it on.

Jumping to the hanging clothes, he reached the highest part of the closet, where boxes and bags filled the area. There was too much powder and he sniffed at least three times before losing his balance and falling to the ground.

“Ai!” but he was standing, not like the first time this happened to him.

That time, he fell from Donna’s window and broke a leg. Jackie had nursed him back to normal like a good cat mommy, and ever since, he actually started to get why he was put here. So he jumped back into action, he needed to get those answers to Jackie.

In one of the corners, a black leather box stood and it was particularly clean. His tail curled in happiness when he understood he had found something interesting, and realized he will have to use—a sock was glowing pink behind it.

Bingo.

******

“Alright, we are going out for dinner. You two want some?”

“Oh, please. Don’t.” Jackie answered and started to walk towards their building’s entrance, Eric smiled at that. One less.

“Nah, man. Got too many of those pumpkin cookies, I can barely with my soul.”

Donna laughed at Hyde’s words and Eric celebrated internally, so he was alone with Donna now.

They saw their adoptive brothers walk inside the apartments building and her arm interweaved with his, Eric guiding her to that pizza place he and Hyde had discovered three months after they moved a year ago.

“He has been living in my home since we were 16, so basically, he is my brother.” Eric said as they walked over there, the conversation about Hyde had started with his comment about the pizza place. “Older brother also, just for some months.”

“I’m a complete year and some months older than Jackie.” she said, their story was similar in the way both their adoptive siblings had shitty parents. He wondered if they could bond over that. “But Jackie, she never gives up on anything. I was surprised she decided to stop chasing Hyde about going out with her.”

“Maye she truly lost interest.”

“Or maybe she is just planning on a big come back, you know? She can be that scary.”

“I believe you.”

Jackie was the damn devil, to be honest.

She was always there, always judging, always with that knowing smile. It creeped him out. Sometimes, her presence remind him of his actual sister, Laurie. She always seemed like a witch to him, ever since he was a kid. They never truly had a healthy siblings relationship, not like what Donna seemed to have with her older sister and younger sisters.

“Imagine my poor dad, he had a house full of girls and then they got assigned another girl! But he loves Jackie as his own daughter, so it’s fine.”

“Assigned?”

Donna blinked a couple of times, she seemed a little bit lost before she nodded. “Foster parents.”

“Oh, so they just decided to keep Jackie?”

“Uh…” she nodded, her nervousness looked adorable to him and Eric smiled at her as they waited for their pizza. “Yeah. We—we actually decided together.”

“So how many foster siblings have you had in between years?”

She searched for her answer, moving her eyes to one side, then another. “Not many… after Jackie came home, they stopped.”

“Oh!” he laughed, “I guess it was the intelligent thing to do! Imagine how many kids they would have adopted if it had continued…”

“My god, like in that movie—“

“Yeah!” he laughed, glad she knew about bad movies. They could do a marathon one day. Hyde loved bad movies, too. “Was it weird? Grow up with an adoptive sister that doesn’t look at all like you?”

Donna laughed at that, but shook her head. “Dad has black hair and mom has this… really pretty face. People usually don’t even think Jackie could be adopted. They did a good job getting her into the family. She adapted pretty well, too.”

“That’s really cool.”

“Yeah…”

Their pizza smelled like paradise and he paid for it, even when she wanted to give him half of it. No way. Maybe later, when they are more into this, they could do that. In the meantime, he liked spending his paycheck with her, it was better than beer and Netflix during the entire weekend.

Walking to their building was as informative and comfy.

She liked to talk but didn’t overwhelm him like Jackie did, and she always paused and listened when it was his turn to speak. Hearing her talk about her journalism aspirations was also a delight, and he understood her communications studies now.

“Jackie, though, she’s studying fashion design. You should see her sketches! They are good, really.”

She also talked a lot about her sister, but not in an obnoxious way.

It was more like some kind of admiration and complicity between the two of them. From time to time, she would stop talking and would laugh to herself, remembering something she and Jackie did before.

Sometimes, she would tell him about it, other times it remained a secret and Eric found himself not minding it.

Except that he wanted to know her, he wanted to know her so well, she would never stop laughing as she talks with him.

******

Something was off. He could almost smell it. No, in fact, he _could_ smell it.

Hyde turned on the light, looking silently into his room with firm eyes.

The pillow was in the ground, but everything else seemed in place; but there was a strange smell that didn’t belong here. The incense wouldn’t let any other smell in, and the bunch of other scents he had stored couldn’t get lose. Which only meant one thing—

“Whoever you are, you better get the fuck out here before I—“

A black blur ran from his bathroom and into his bed, Hyde almost jumped to it to grab the thing when he realized it wasn’t there, but running to the open door.

“Crap!”

He took the covers away to discover a sock, his brain worked hard to think of—the damn aphrodisiac. Running to his living room, he discovered that Forman was still out with Donna and his fight with the black blur will have to be one to one.

Suddenly, it moved to the window and Hyde finally looked at it: standing in the open window, Jackie’s cat was holding a little pink bottle on his snout.

“You fucking ca—“ he run to the animal ready to get it.

The cat jumped from the window back to the apartment and dropped the bottle. “Ai! Do not break the cute kitten!” and it got under the couch.

“What…?”

It had talked. The damn thing had talked. This wasn’t his imagination, this wasn’t Jackie doing voices and calling him names, no. She had been honest. The cat talked.

“Hey, cat?” he said after a few frozen seconds. “I’m not gonna hurt you.”

“You have never liked me!” a male voice said with a thick accent. “You always push me aside when all I want is some loving!” the voice again, Hyde walked towards the couch slowly. “Why you don’t like the cute kitten, you _sunuvabitch_!?”

It was the fucking cat.

“Holy shit—“

Fuck, fuck, fuck. This was not happening. From all the shitty things that could be over at that apartment, a talking black cat wasn’t even near his imagination. If it had a voice, then—

“Fez?” he said, giving a pick to under the couch to find the cat in the corner make into a ball. “Come on, body…”

“No. I have betrayed my goddess, she will not like me back with these terrible news!”

Was he talking about Jackie? Donna? Both? Someone else? Hyde shook his head and sat down in the ground in front of the couch.

“You mean Jackie?”

“Well, yes!” Fez said like if it was too obvious. “Unless you are referring to Donna? Well, Donna is also a goddess, am I right? She got these huge br—“

“Quit it, cat. I get you weren’t always an animal.” there was no answer. “Did they do this to you, buddy? Come on, I’m trying to help.”

He got a meow as an answer and Hyde sighed.

“Come on, how can you be so loyal to those witches?”

“I deserved it.” came the answer with the thick answer, Hyde blinked a couple of times and looked under the couch again, the cat was looking stressed and somehow sad. “I was a bad boy.”

“No one deserves being transformed into freaking cat. Get out there, buddy…” he extended his arm to the cat, but it moved as far it could from him. Whatever this cat was in reality, he wasn’t falling for Hyde’s desire of actually helping him. “Alright, what did you do?”

“Uh…” the cat seemed to think about it, blinking once, the again. It had big yellow eyes, was actually well raised Cambodian black cat, a beautiful animal. “I… I used to stalk girls and maybe think bad things of them. Sometimes told them bad things, too.”

“Oh, crap. You were a pervert?”

“No! I was just mesmerized by how gorgeous girls are!” he defended, “But they were all so beautiful, it gave me needs and none of them would look at me.”

“Please, tell me you are not a damn rapist, because I swear to God I’m go—“

“NO!” the cat said again. “No. What is the matter with you, jackass? You never let other people talk!?”

“I’m talking to a goddamn cat!”

This was a conversation he never thought he would have. No damn animal should be talking, because no damn person should be transformed into one.

Forman’s voice filtered to the apartment and Hyde looked up from his place in front of the couch. He had put the bottle on the coffee table and by the time his friend had opened the door with a laugh and Donna behind him carrying a pizza box, he knew it was a mistake: the cat had run from under the couch to the table, took the bottle, and then ran to the open door.

“Uh, Fez?” Donna said, but the cat was already out.

“Crap!” Hyde followed him, the other two looking at him with curious gazes.

“What’s with him?” he heard Donna ask Eric. “Fez is inoffensive.”

“I know, I know. He just hates every breathing thing…” his voice was then covered by the closing door and Hyde had entered another place while following the thing.

******

Donna sighed as Eric closed the door. His brother was fun and nice when he wanted to be, but his hostility against she and Jackie was starting to get on her nerves.

She wanted Eric.

Not only in the lusty way, but in an intellectual and romantic level too. The boy may be a Star Wars nerd and a little bit geeky, but totally her type and his honest to God lovely way of talking and looking at her was doing a party in her chest every time he did an appearance in her day.

Leaving the pizza box on their table, she looked as Eric managed to enter his kitchen and brought two beers with him. They were going to watch a movie together for the night.

“So,” she started, “Jackie and I are hosting a Halloween Party this Monday…”

“Monday? You two are mad!”

“Yeah, well… sadly, that day is Halloween, so…”

“Man, that important?” he smiled, taking the box after leaving the beers in the living room’s coffee table. “You two really are into Halloween.”

“Yeah, kind of.” she wasn’t sure why, but she actually felt like sharing with him why it was so important. Halloween was their night. But she remained normal to him. “So, it’s going to be in the rooftop.” she signaled the place, Eric followed her finger and nodded. “At 7 pm, we actually told Kelso and his wife, too. It will be fun to have you there, too.”

“What about Hyde?” he said.

Donna rolled her eyes, she knew he was just playing dumb. “He’s invited, too. Come on…”

Sitting at his side in the floor, she saw as he entered his netlfix account. The other three names were Hyde’s, some Red, and some Laurie. She knew Hyde, and knew Laurie was his older sister he seemed to not like and who also sounded kind of familiar, but she couldn’t put a name on it either. Red? One of his parents? Another friend?

He nodded finally, “With one condition.”

“I’m listening.”

He looked at her with some pink on his cheeks, the condition was obvious and she smiled, feeling her own face go hot too.

None of them moved at first, some trailer for some new show started on Eric’s account and it was his clue to move a little towards her. Donna leaned her own to his, and her lips brushed against his for a second too long.

Just with that, sparks flown free on her bottom belly and when his lips finally caressed hers, it all exploded atomic inside.

Kissing was something she learned to like, because she didn’t the first time. Her first kiss had been bad, too wet and too… just gross.

But Eric, bless Eric. He was soft, almost shy, a little bit nervous, but all so sweet and so him. His scent was a dulcet spring breeze, like the flowers Jackie loved to keep in their apartment, all colors and life touching her deep in a way nobody has ever done before.

He was liking it too, she could tell.

Slowly, they moved at a calm peace as his hands took her both her cheeks and his mouth moved to deepen the kiss a little, just a taste of tongue before pulling apart.

They looked at each other for a few seconds, before kissing again, and again, and again.

******

Jackie heard the door closing and sighed looking at the tiny cut she got from today’s party. It wasn’t so bad, but it still burned a little. She cleaned it again in her bathroom, the one she had tricked Donna into losing with their stupid game when they moved and chose rooms, and then put a new band aid on it.

Outside, Fez seemed to be running, probably playing with Donna and the ball she had bought him. Her sister liked to treat the cat as such, and every day the boy seemed far from what he truly was and acted more like the animal he was put into.

“What is he doing?” she murmured, there was too much sound. Someone running, but no laughs. Donna couldn’t be playing with Fez.

She stepped outside with a frown, ready find whatever the hell that nasty cat was doing now. He was standing with his tail on a straight line over the mini bar’s tallest stand and in front, Steven Hyde signaling him with an accusatory finger and an angered expression.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

Steven almost jumped on his feet the second he heard her, looking at her with wide open eyes like trying to see something else besides her face. Then, it occurred to her. If he was here and so was Fez—

“You transformed a man into a cat, you _are_ a witch!” he said, “I knew it!”

His accusation made her freeze on her place. One thing was to know he knew, the other being pointed out as such; Jackie felt like in the Middle Ages, being called a witch which such hate. She wanted to laugh, but her lack of response had more to do with the fact that Fez had an Amortentia on his mouth.

“And you—“ Steven’s voice broke, he looked aside and closed his eyes. “You are also only wearing a corset.”

******

Jackie’s scream alerted Donna the second she heard it, she pulled apart from Eric and he sighed.

“You wanna go check on her?” he said, his voice as kind as he could. She appreciated that even when he obviously didn’t like her sister, he respect their relationship. “It must be only Hyde, but—“

“Oh god, they could be killing each other.” She joked, then pecked at his lips again and he smiled. “Just a second…”

“It’s okay, let’s go together. If it’s Hyde, I want to have the chance to burn him a little.”

“So you can have a good night’s sleep?”

He offered his hand once he stood up and nodded. His relationship with Hyde seemed amazing to her, both boys were in sync to her eyes and she wondered if that’s how she and Jackie looked to the public eye.

Fixing her clothes a little, she followed him to the door and he turned to kiss her again. This time, his hands rested on her waist and she hugged his neck with both arms. It was all getting there when another sound, of something falling and breaking, made them look into each other’s eyes.

“They must be killing each other!” he said, opening the door.

“Curse my sister and her aggressive flirting!”

******

“OH MY GOD!” she ran into her what he assumed was his room, covering her body with her short arms and he sighed.

Damn, that was… “That was so jummy!”

“Fucking pervert, that’s why you are a damn animal! Get your dirty ass here, fucker!”

“DON’T YELL TO MY CAT, YOU PERVERT!” Jackie’s voice reached him from her room.

“Excuse me? Pervert? I’m not the one walking around in my underwear!” he answered, giving Fez the chance to get into the kitchen and he followed, not caring Jackie was in the apartment. “Give me back that shit!”

The cat curled its tail happily and kept the bottle on his mouth, now sitting safe over the fridge. So they were playing at this? Fine.

“You asked for it, asshole—“

“DON’T TOUCH MY CAT!”

He couldn’t move a single muscle, his entire body felt trapped and hard.

“Fez, what are you doing?” she asked passing him, he tried to walk again but could only stare. “Get out there and give me that… oh!” she looked at him a smile creeping on her face. “It’s yours!”

Hyde said nothing. What was he supposed to say now? If he accepted it, the situation was screwed. But if he acted innocent, then why was he on her apartment? His brain started to search for an excuse.

“Give it back, Fezy. That’s not how we welcome our kind.”

Crap, crap, crap, crap.

“But you must be particularly bad at this, Steven…” Fez gave her the potion once it jumped to the kitchen’s bar. “I’m only freezing your muscles, you can broke the spell easy.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Please.” she laughed, observing the potion. “This Amortentia is very peculiar. You did it?”

“What the fuck are you talking about, _witch_?”

Jackie stopped her inspection and rolled her eyes, one hand out to his direction and his body fell to the ground, free from whatever it had been stopping it. She looked at him, sitting on the kitchen’s bar with her cat on her shoulder. She was wearing only a bath gown, he suspected the black corset was still there under it.

“You are using _witch_ as an insult? Are you a newbie, Steven?”

He stood up and she looked at the bottle again, this time opening and he finally noticed her purple pendant on her neck. This was dangerous, he couldn’t just leave the room and let her touch what was inside that—Leo would kill him.

“Man, don’t—“

“This is for sex.” she said, smiling in a way that moved everything inside him. Fuck. “You use your abilities for this cheap crap, I thought you were better than that.” Jackie looked at him with a smirk, the spark in her eyes annoying as ever. “This is disappointing.”

“Tragic.” he answered, tired of this cat and mouse game. “Give me back my shit and we can go back to ignoring each other.”

“You were ignoring me? Boy, you are bad at it.” Fez laughed after hearing that. The door in front the apartment opened and their roommates’ voices echoed with it. “This is dangerous, I’m keeping it. You don’t even have an item,” his index finger rubbed at his eyeball ring slowly, “so I assume you don’t even know how to ca—“

“Jackie!”

******

A bright and orange light appeared in the girls’ door and Eric blinked a couple of times before Donna rushed to the apartment with alarm.

“Donna, wait—“

Inside, Hyde and Jackie stood in the middle of the dinner room with their hands in front of the other, like a battle between a Jedi and a Sith. There was also another boy he didn’t recognize inside wearing a green robe and a scared expression.

“What the…?”

The bright and orange light was fire. And it was coming from Hyde’s hand where his eyeball ring rested since he has memory.

“Hyde?”

But his friend was too busy fighting the purple mist coming from Jackie’s hand when, suddenly, it became some kind of ball and it shot strong direct to him and Donna. His arms covered her by instinct but she lifted both arms in front of them as he hugged her, but the ball hit them anyway, bouncing from his back to Hyde’s face when he looked back.

“Hyde!”

Jackie was faster. She took the ball with both her hands and handle it like if it was actual material, making it smaller and smaller between her tiny hands.

Black marks, they seemed like veins, appeared on her face and Eric’s eyes widened as the thing disappeared, leaving her in the ground.

“Fuck!” Hyde moved to her side, hands holding her before he was punched by the guy in the robe. “What—“

“Don’t touch her, you animal!” he had a tick accent and Donna was rushing to her side. “He attacked her first! Just because—“

“You attacked her!?” Donna’s hand was high again and red energy was concentrating on her palm before Jackie’s hand grabbed her wrist. “Hey! Are you alright?”

“Black magic…” she said, the black veins were gone. “he’s using black magic, don’t—“

“WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!?”

The four of them looked at Eric, wide eyes and pale expressions. Fuck.

“They are going to wipe his memory.” Donna said, eyes frightened.

******

Eric’s eyes were wide open and almost blank, he looked like one of those stupid owls people like to share on the internet, but the situation didn’t seem funny to Hyde.

This was exactly why he wanted these fucking witches away from them.

“You are a witch?” he said to Donna first, and before she could say anything, he looked at Jackie, “I actually believe it from you. But are you real? Aren’t I’m like dreaming or something?”

“No, Eric. It’s real.” Jackie answered, she was laying on her couch, still tired. She had absorbed his damn curse, for fu— “I know it’s too much, but you have to believe us. You just saw it. And this is serious. We can be punished for this.”

“I’m…” he was probably going to apologize, but he stood firm. “Don’t talk to me like if I was a kid, I’m not stupid!”

“I didn’t say that, Eric—“

“You!” Forman pointed at him, Hyde’s shoulders went rigid at the sight of it. “You are goddamn witch, too!”

“No, I’m not.”

“He is.” Donna said, tea in hand for her sister. Fez had gotten dressed by now, he was rubbing Jackie’s legs so they would react. Guilt raised on his throat. “A goddamn black wizard.”

“I—“

“He doesn’t know, Donna.” Jackie answered for him, why was she defending him? He almost killed her. “He still rubs his item to use his powers, like a child.”

“What?” Hyde started, but Forman’s hands make him look at him. “What…?”

“You are using black magic.” He said, suddenly looking like if he knew more than him. He always hated that look. “Are you fucking out of your mind? Even I know that can’t be good!”

“He didn’t know his natural energy is black magic!” Jackie tried to stand, her body didn’t react and only got herself in the floor again, hitting her face. “Fuck…”

“Shit!” he tried to go and help her, Donna had rushed to her side and with Fez’s help, they put her again in the couch, this time with her head on Donna’s lap. So this is what his own fucking magic do to people? “Forman, listen—“

“Why did that thing bounce off me?”

Fuck.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, this wasn’t happening.

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t? Or you don’t want to tell me?”

He looked at the girls, like trying to find what he must do now. Donna had only eyes for Jackie’s hand as she tried to find any scratches, while Fez kept on rubbing her legs with Donna’s herbal ointment.

But Jackie, she was looking at him like asking him to say something. Stop lying.

“It’s a protection spell, Eric.” Donna answered for him and Jackie glared at her. The girl looked up at Forman. “I actually thought you were a wizard when I first felt it.”

“What?”

“It means you have had it for years, it’s part of you now.”

“How…?”

“It can be anything actually.” she said, moving to check Jackie’s other hand. “A piece of cloth, a key chin, tattoo, some jewel—“

“A TATTOO!?”

“Forman—“

“YOU!” he signaled him, anger reflected on his eyes and something inside him dropped. “Friendship tattoo? BULLSHIT! That’s why you said yes! You, you, you—“ Forman pushed him hard, walking towards the door faster than he ever remembered him walking.

“Wait, Forman. Hey…” he tried to reach him, taking his arm to restrain him from leaving the apartment.

“Don’t fucking touch me!” Forman looked at him, this was starting to be too much. “You lied to me! And put a spell on me—without telling me, you used damn magic on me, like—I don’t belong to you or something! What is wrong with you?”

“What are you talking about? I didn’t do it because of that, listen first—it’s my mom, I needed to—“

“EDNA HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS!” he said, “You are always blaming her for every shitty thing you do! Not just because you had a shitty childhood you can go through the world doing shit to other people! I’m your friend, your brother! Why would you lie to me that way?”

“It’s… it’s not—“

“You know what, Hyde? I don’t want to hear it.” He then looked at the girls, both were string at the scene in awe. “I need space, I—I’m so sorry, Donna, it’s just…”

“I understand, Eric.”

He nodded. His eyes were on Jackie for long seconds before he turned to him slowly. “You almost killed someone today. I don’t give a flying fuck if you didn’t know your… you magic was bad. You attacked Jackie, Hyde.”

“There’s a reason for that—“

“He attacked her because I took a sex potion form him.” Fez said, Eric’s eye shot wider even.

“WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?”

“I didn’t knew it was a sex potion!”

“Is there SOMETHING you actually do know?”

Hyde shut his mouth then, crossing his arms over his chest. He looked at the ground before speaking again, “I’m sorry.” He said, even knowing it wasn’t enough. “I can explain it to you, because there is really a reason for all it.”

“I don’t give a shit.” Forman said, “I don’t want to hear it.” And then sighed. “Not now, anyway. Fucking asshole.”

He left the apartment, door wide open like an invitation and Hyde started to walk towards it when it was shut closed. His steps ceased and he waited for what was next. Furniture moved around him, doing a barricade in the door and leaving the smallest of the couch in front of the girls.

Jackie seemed better at least, man. She was now sitting in the couch and was moving every finger of her hands, legs going up and down, her body was recovering its movement. A sigh trapped in his throat and this time, he walked willingly to the couch that was obviously for him.

“Start talking.” Donna said, no space for ramblings and buts. “Give a good reason to not wreck you for trying to kill my sister.”

“I didn’t wanted to kill her—“

“You did attack me.” Jackie said, “I wasn’t doing anything to you. That was… a terrible reaction. With some terrible magic.” she concluded, looking up at him. “It’s dangerous.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, bitch. Be motherfucking careful.” Fez said, Hyde had to bite the inside of his cheek to not laugh. “How can you not know you have black power?”

He shrugged.

“Your mom, she was the witch?” Donna asked, he nodded. “She left him when he was 16, maybe…”

“How do you—Forman.”

“Yep. Now shut up, we have to decide what we are doing.”

“We have to report Eric, Donna…”

“But—“

“How about this?” Jackie started, “Talk to Eric, you. Not you, you just stay put.” Jackie said and Hyde closed his eyes. “Try to explain it to him, and why we need him on our side. I’ll take care of Steven.”

“What?” the other three said at the same time.

“He could have killed you!” Fez said.

“It was an accident, he didn’t knew. You,” she signaled him and Hyde felt tense again, “you better start telling me what little you know about magic and your own power. And why weren’t you assigned to a home.”

“Oh, crap!” Donna put a hand over her mouth. “Jackie, his mom!”

He sighed. Here we go.

“What?”

“Eric called her Edna…” Jackie frowned, Donna seemed to want her to understand the thing by her own. This was so fucked up. “Hyde…? Come on, Edna Hyde!”

Jackie shut her eyes, then let her back lay back in the couch, a deep sigh leaving her. “Your mom is Edna Duncan, isn’t it?”

“The one and only.”

“I’m so sorry, Steven.”

“Damn, Hyde. I’m sorry, too.”

He didn’t said anything, what he could say? That his mother was one of those witches the wizard community had used to scare other kids at night? That of course his own damn magic would be damaged because of her?

This wasn’t supposed to happen, these girls just appeared to ruin his goddamn life—and he almost killed one of them without even knowing he could do it.

“I understand the last lecture, now.” Jackie said suddenly, Hyde looked at her. Her mismatched eyes were on Donna. “And the dream. It was him, the fire.”

“You are a seer?” he said, she nodded and sighed again.

“Alright.” Donna said, like this new information also gave her a new purpose. “I’m getting Eric. Fez, you come with me. Jackie, are you going to be okay?” she nodded, Donna looked at him next. “We still need to know what we are doing with you, people think you don’t exist.”

“And I’m hoping it stays that way. You have any idea how already dangerous my every day is even with your community thinking I don’t exist?”

Donna blinked a couple of times, then nodded. “Did you—“ whatever it was she wanted to say, it was giving her a hard time. He sighed. “Were you protecting him against her?” after hesitant seconds, he nodded. “What did she do?”

“He made him fall from a water tower in our hometown. He think it was an accident, but the air doesn’t push you from places just because.”

“No, it doesn’t.” she admitted. “You really didn’t had any idea about your magic, and the potion?” he shook his head. “You still could have killed my sister.”

“I know.”

“I’m leaving you with her now.”

He looked up; whatever this little truce was, he better take it. Maybe not everything was lost for him.

“Not that she can’t defend herself, you saw it.” he did, Hyde nodded. “She’s even stronger than that, she’s a pure blood witch—“

“Donna—“ Jackie started, but she kept talking

“And her mother is like yours.” A black witch, Hyde nodded again. He had felt it already. “You don’t touch my sister ever again, okay?”

He crossed his arms again and looked right into her eyes. “Don’t hurt my brother then.”

She nodded, then left after moving the furniture back on its place. Fez sighed, and followed her without another word, just a little smile to Jackie. She wasn’t moving, just sitting there, moving her legs.

“I’m sorry.”

“Me, too.” she said. “So—you can fly?”

From all the things she could have asked or say, she had to remember what his goddaughter said, of course.

“Yeah. Kind of.”

“Not all wizards can do that, you know?” he shook his head, and Jackie sighed. “So, who’s the witch in Eric’s family? His dad or his mom?”

Hyde closed his eyes. Crap.

*******

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> N/A: Eric and Hyde get an unexpected visit and Eric, some answers. Hyde needs to make sure things are truly good between them, so cooking with her may do. The girl’s party is almost here, too.
> 
> Thank you all for reading! Maybe I'll see you on [my tumblr](http://jacquelineshyde.tumblr.com/)? Have a good day!


	3. A Family's Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eric and Hyde get an unexpected visit and Eric, some answers. Hyde needs to make sure things are truly good between them, so cooking with her may do. The girl’s party is almost here, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry about how late this is being updated, but real life hit me up real bad lately. Now, I’m going to update the last chapter as soon as I can. Thank you ALL for your comments, follows and faves! Enjoy this chapter, too.
> 
> If you liked this and you have tumblr, please consider rebloging the [original post](http://jacquelineshyde.tumblr.com/post/153803174575/absolute-beginners-chapter-iii-a-familys-party) to support me! Thank you!

**Absolute Beginners**

**Chapter III – A Family Party**

_Saturday, October 29 th, 2016. Eric and Hyde’s apartment. 11:29 pm._

Hyde hung the phone, Jackie and Donna were looking at him with certain curiosity that seemed more like preoccupation, and his eyes followed the sound of Forman entering his apartment.

“Fuck off.” he said to him before he could say anything else, walking to his room and making a grand sound by closing the door.

“I’m sorry we irrupted your marriage.” Jackie said. She was fine, alright. And it was also almost midnight. “What did she say?”

“She’s coming tomorrow. This… is going to be kind of crappy, so maybe tomorrow is not a good day to be—a witch. Okay?”

Jackie arched an eyebrow, Donna was laughing at her side and she elbowed her to shut up.

“Tomorrow morning you are leaving Eric alone and going with me to the Kelsos, Steven.”

“What?”

She was now bossing him around, like hours ago he hadn’t put her life at risk. Hyde wasn’t sure if she was amazing or naïve, almost stupid. Her little fingers were wrapped around his wrist and Donna sighed, walking over Forman’s room and they were alone again. Not good.

“We are going to put good use to that potion…” she looked up at him, her purple nails shone against the light of his living room and he refused to look at her face. “We are going to help your friends.”

“How do you know…?”

“Your friend didn’t stop looking at me all night, you kept hitting him on the arm.”

So she saw that. Definitely, she wasn’t stupid at all.

“I don’t think he truly wants me, he loves his wife.” she said, he nodded. “But they need help. Since you said you are babysitting Betsy, why not we go for her and give them some love brownies?”

Hyde smiled at that, he couldn’t wrap his mind around Jackie cooking, putting a love potion on someone’s brownies. But she was dead serious, he could see it in the way determination radiated from her pretty face and he swallowed hard, finally looking into her eyes.

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. You better do it with me, you owe me some time or I swear, I’m going to report you.”

“So you are blackmailing me now? Fuck…”

“Oh, you like it.” she smiled with mischief and his entire body felt the electric shiver of her damn flirting. This wasn’t right. “Come on, we have work to do.”

“Right now?”

“Unless you want to hear them—“

“Alright, let’s go.”

******

_Donna and Jackie’s apartment. 11:58 pm._

To be honest, she didn’t knew what Donna was doing in Eric’s room or what was she doing with Steven back in their apartment. They stood together in the kitchen, searching for a brownies recipe on her phone as Fez sniffed on the eggs Hyde had put out the fridge.

“So you can go from cat to human willingly?” he asked Fez, the cat moved his ears and looked at him.

“No, I just have one hour a day as a human.”

“That sucks, for how long have you been a cat?”

“Seventh months.” he answered, jumping to the kitchen’s counter. “It is fine, you get used to it. Also, there is a lot of fun things to do as a cat.”

“Like talking and scaring the living shit out of other people?”

“And having praises and people loving you.”

Steven shook his head, Fez kept moving his tail and she showed them the recipe. She was terrible at cooking, she had already told this to Steven and he had laughed at it. A witch that can’t cook, what a joke. So he would do most the job while she was making sure the potion was applied right.

“So you are going to be a cat forever?” he said, Fez looked at him while moving his tail.

“No, it’s a yearlong punishment.”

“Oh, you are almost there.” Steven’s tone sounded friendly, it made her smile.

Fez sighed. “Yes and suddenly I don’t like it. It’s fun to be a cat. And live with pretty ladies.”

“You can still live with us, Fezy. As long as you are not disgusting anymore.”

Fez groaned at that and Steven laughed, he kept preparing the brownies as she recited the recipe and handed him some of the stuff. Once ready for the oven, she walked to them with the potion.

“How are we adding the aphrodisiac?”

“It’s not an aphrodisiac, Steven. Is an Amortentia for sex.” she corrected him, and left the pink bottle in the kitchen’s counter. “It’s easy, I’ll do it. But look at it well, so next time you can do it.”

“Next time?” she didn’t answer, he sighed and put his elbows on the counter, looking at her applying the potion with a small dropper. “I’m your student now?”

“Your magic is dangerous, Steven.” she reminded him, his body went rigid after hearing her. “As long as we can’t say who you are, at least you need to learn how to cast white spells and maintain the black energy at ease.”

The kitchen went silent then, only Fez’s purr between them and the night getting darker outside. Wanting to distract him here wasn’t her best idea, but she knew how it felt to discover the kind of garbage running through your veins. He didn’t deserve it.

Besides, Eric was still mad at him. Maybe not being on that apartment was a good idea. Jackie only hoped Donna was having better luck, maybe if she could talk Eric to understand, tomorrow would be a brighter day.

“What were you trying to do, anyway?” she asked.

“What do you mean?”

“What spell were you trying to do?”

“Uh…”

Steven scratched at the back of his neck, Fez jumped to his shoulders and he saw him move until the cat jumped to the ground and left the kitchen. He was probably going to eat. Fez was always eating.

“I tried to imitate what you did…” he signaled his body. “With my muscles, that one.”

She nodded. “What you did instead is a torture spell. You steal the person’s energy.”

“Crap.”

Witchcraft was fun, but it was also dangerous. Helpful like anything else and a part of you, but always with its dark ends. She had learned to control the dark energy as a kid, helping Steven may be a little difficult but not impossible. Maybe she could ask her mom Midge about it.

“Well, we are ready. To the oven!”

He took the plate with a small smile and put it on her oven, she confirmed the time of baking on her phone’s recipe and they went together to sit on her dinner room’s table. Fez was sleeping in the larger couch in the living room.

“I’m sorry.” he said again and for the first time, she realized he meant it.

Jackie moved her bangs from her forehead and nodded. “I’m sorry, too. I shouldn’t have bothered you with all of this. You never met with other witches before?”

“Just my mom… and a friend before…” he sighed. “Before going with the Formans.”

“Why you didn’t learn with the Formans?”

“I didn’t wanted to.” she looked up at him, he was frowning. “I decided to have as a normal life as I could, so zero magic would do. I didn’t learn a single thing, and only knew the basics and what I could understand by my own. I just didn’t want to have—I didn’t want to learn.”

To be honest, she couldn’t relate to that at all. A life without magic sounded as crazy as the sun appearing in the night, but her mother, a black witch like his or not, wasn’t in the eternal ‘wanted’ wall of the magic kingdom.

She looked at him a few seconds before patting at his hand softly, a tiny smile on her face.

“It’s fine.”

He looked back with what could only be curiosity and she stopped touching, she needed to control whatever it was that attracted her so much to push all his buttons and stay near him even when she has made him mad in seconds. _Aggressive_ _flirting_ , Donna had called it. Jackie wasn’t sure if she was just flirting at this point.

“How did you get this potion, by the way?” she changed the subject. “It’s powerful, which also means dangerous.”

“Is there something not dangerous with magic?” he said, she shook her head with a knowing smile. “Damn. See my point? I don’t want to learn because of that.”

“You have to.” she reminded him. “Listen, Steven…” she took his hand with both of hers, squeezing at some points and moving his fingers. “The black energy was given to you by your mother when born. The magic gen is more powerful in females, so it’s sure for them that their first born will have it.” she explained, “So the dark energy will always be part of you, it’s a gen. But you can clean it. If you don’t, believe me it will give you more problems than tonight. It can even kill you, it needs energy to live.”

Once more, he didn’t say anything. Jackie caressed the ring on his thump. It was—peculiar. An eye, a blue eye like his. It looked ridiculous and cheap, and she smiled.

“Your mother gave it to you, right?”

“How do you know?”

“The wizard parent gives their kid an object to call their magic, we call them ‘Items’.” she left his hand but the fingers of her free one still touched his, then Jackie took her purple pendant nested in the middle of her chest and showed it to him. “This is mine. My parents bought it for me, put their energy on it. It’s the first touch of magic we get, it makes the rest of ours wake up while we grow up.”

“So thanks to this crap I almost killed you?”

“No! Look, your magic is like—sleeping inside you, you rub your item to call it and that’s the object’s work. Like I said, the black energy is yours…” they looked at each other for long seconds until his eyes left hers, she let go of the air on her lungs. “It’s not your fault, we don’t choose our parents. You think I’m happy to have a black witch as a mother, too?”

Steven looked at her at least, she felt her cheeks going warm for those eyes and Jackie swallowed hard.

“Sorry about that.” he said, his fingers were still touching hers and he rubbed her index one, Jackie looked down at it. “Sorry—“ he tried to take his hand away, but her fingers hardened their touch so he won’t go anywhere. “Uh…”

“Where did you got the sex potion, Steven?”

She shouldn’t be playing this much with her tone, Jackie knew this. But to keep negating what she felt for him, the kind of attraction between them, was just ridiculous at this point. She had shared too much, and discovered too much from him.

“A friend gave it to me, birthday present.”

“Birthday present?” she laughed, her hand reached his again and he didn’t move away. “Okay. First, that only works in already in love couples. It’s for sex, and it’s also an Amortentia. It doesn’t work on people who are just lusting for the other. Both ends need to have—“

Steven had the bluest eyes ever and without the sunglasses, it was impossible to look away. Jackie swallowed hard before talking again, “Both people need to have a connection for it to work.”

“So, just to say an example…” he looked at their hands, then slowly up to her eyes. “We couldn’t use it.”

“Uh—“ Why was he asking that? She shook her head. “No, I guess.”

“You guess?”

None say anything. What was he looking for? Yet she didn’t take her hands away, neither did he. After a few seconds, he cleared his throat and looked at her again.

“I should go see that… the oven.”

“Oh, yeah.”

Standing, he walked over to the kitchen and her fingers meet each other over her lap. Jackie tried not to look at him as he walked, but she could feel his eyes on her and when he stood just for a few seconds behind her before entering the kitchen.

Damn, damn, damn. This was a great moment for Donna to maybe come in.  But that wasn’t happening, she stood up and reminded herself that her sister was working on her own heart problems and she was a grown up now. She could deal with handsome, amateur wizards with great hearts than what they think of themselves.

Walking into the kitchen, she found him squatting in front of the oven’s window and he looked up when she called his name. Jackie wasn’t sure of what she was doing, her hands cupped both his shoulders and his eyes followed her breathe to her lips, then her warming cheeks to her shining eyes.

“Hey…” he murmured as her face was getting closer, leaning awkwardly to his face. He was still squatting and they could fell to the floor any second by now.

But his lips were wonderful. Better than what she thought they could taste. It was real, warm and soft, a winter night under comfy blankets and hot cocoa.

They moved together, she allowed him entrance to her mouth after a few seconds and her hands took on the softness of his clean face, caressing his cheeks and his sideburns. Steven smiled in the kiss, she tasted it too and smiled back, her tongue barely following his because she was too overwhelmed to think sexy.

“Oh!” and like she thought before, the intensity of their kiss made him lose his balance and he dragged her to his body when his butt hit the floor. “Fuck…” he murmured, Jackie bit her bottom lip to not laugh and his eyes looked up at her face. “You think it’s funny?”

She nodded with a smile, “Yeah. I do.”

“You little shit…” but his lips met hers again, and suddenly the Lovers card for her burning dream made total sense.

******

_Sunday, October 30 th, 2016. The Kelsos’ house. 10:14 am._

Hyde had no idea how he ended up here, but Betsy was smiling at him with that face of knowing too much for her age and Brooke seemed like having an attack every second now.

Jackie was smiling, on the other hand. She was carrying her stupid boy-cat and Betsy has been excited about the black animal since she saw him when they appeared on her home. Having her at his side didn’t suck, also. She smelled like wild flowers and her perfume got all over the El Camino the second she put a foot there this morning.

She had wanted to be with him to give away the love brownies, her excitement for helping his friends made Hyde think of their kiss and all the touches and other caresses that followed that just the night before.

“Thank you so much for this!” Brooke said for the seventh time in less than fifteen seconds, distracting him from his dreamland. “And, oh! These!” she put the brownies on her dinner table and Hyde looked at them almost in disbelief. “Thank you for these!”

“Yeah…” he said, Betsy run into them and took one. “No! Put that down, young lady! Leave it!”

“But I want one!”

“I’ll buy you one on our way to the apartment, but please leave that.”

“But this one’s smells good and I want it now!”

“Bets! Come on!” he said, Brooke walked over here and took the chocolate thing away. “Oh, thank god…”

“Hyde.” the woman started, he swallowed hard before looking up. Jackie was laughing at his side, and so was Fez probably. “Is there something I need to know?”

“Are those special brownies?” Kelso entered the room smelling too much of cologne and both, Jackie and Brooke, shared a laugh. He took one of the brownies and looked at Hyde, “You did them?”

“With terrible help, yes.” and Jackie kicked him in the shin, Fez certainly laughed now. “Crap, stop doing that!”

“I’ll stop once you stop being such an ass!”

“Okay, you two stop!” Brooke said, suddenly serious. They looked at her like called out kids. “So, are these…?”

“Yeah.” Jackie answered, her fingers were tenderly caressing Fez’s fur and the sight of it was making stuff to Hyde’s insides. “High in love.”

“Hyde!” Brooke called, but it was too late, her husband was already eating the damn things. Hyde couldn’t help but smile. “Michael!”

“Come on, Brooke. It will be fun, eat one at least.”

“You should!” Jackie suggested, Kelso’s eyes followed her voice and Hyde’s back went hard. “Just one, tell us how it tastes. We spend part of the night doing them.”

“You did them too?” Brooke said, eying the plate with brownies.

“She helped a little.” Hyde said, her tiny hand caressed his arm and her entire body reacted by wanting to jump her.

Brooke didn’t seem convinced, but Kelso put a small piece on her mouth and she eat it. A little smile sprang on her face, and Hyde carried Betsy before the little girl could think on stealing one of the ‘love brownies’ from her parents.

This better works.

“Alright, bud!” Kelso said, going to him. “Thank you for this, we will take care of your kids if you ever have one!”

Brooke laughed behind him, taking one of the brownies and Jackie smiled, her free arm crossing with his and Fez’s paw touched his arm as if asking to be gone already.

“What does that laugh means, uh?” he asked, walking with his friends to the front door.

Brooke laughed even harder: “It’s going to be a _loooong_ time before that happens.”

“That’s what you think?” he sighed, Jackie’s breast were touching his elbow and he wanted to feel her skin again more than ever. “Just out of spite, I’ll have one by the end of the year. Gonna let him or her be over all the time.”

“Well, as long as it’s more like his or her mother…” Brooke patted at Jackie’s shoulder, both looked at her with wide open eyes. “We’ll be fine with that.”

“Uh—“

“Get out of here, now!” Kelso said, opening the door for them and Betsy rolled her eyes. “Don’t do that to your father ever again, little lady!” he told his daughter, but she crossed her arms without saying a word, challenging him. Jackie laughed at his side. “Oh, so that’s how things are?” he crossed his arms too and Brooke shook her head, pushing Kelso aside. “Brooke, our daughter—“

“I know, I know. We should have another one.”

“Uh…” he followed Brooke inside and Hyde walked with Jackie, Betsy and Fez on Jackie’s shoulder to the outside. “Really?”

“Jackie,” he murmured, she looked up at him, “how quick that thing works?”

“Immediately, let’s get out of here.”

“Damn.”

******

_Sunday 30 th, 2016. Eric and Hyde’s apartment. 10:21 am._

When someone called at the door, Eric never imagine to find his mother’s happy but worried smile outside.

Blinking, he let her in and she was followed by his father, and his freaking sister of all people. Like him, she looked irritated at the idea of being in his apartment, but sat down and drank Eric’s tea when offered, and didn’t say a word as the tension grow stronger.

“Where’s Steven, honey?” his mom asked for the sixth time.

Eric sighed, “He’s babysitting Betsy today, so he went for her. Kelso and Brooke had been having some couple problems, you know?”

“Oh, no. Did your friend did—?”

“No!” he answered, but it was too late, his father was rolling his eyes and Laurie was laughing. “No, no. That’s why Hyde’s helping, they are going on a date today or something.”

“Your brother always so attentive…” she smiled, Eric rolled his eyes.

Like hell.

He hadn’t talk to him since yesterday’s night. After Donna and Fez found him on the rooftop, he had stayed with her in his room, talking about her nature almost all night. He had seen Fez get into a cat again, then ran into Donna and Jackie’s apartment as the sound of Jackie’s voice filled the hallway.

Peeking inside when Donna wanted to check on her sister, he saw Hyde going from the kitchen to the little dinner area, carrying what looked like baking materials and he wondered if he was doing witch stuff with Jackie. Maybe now that everything was out, he would be doing magic everywhere.

“You know, he called us last night.” mom said, Eric looked at her with a frown. “You two had a fight, he said.”

“Just call the jackass, Eric.” Red told him and Eric wanted to smile, his dad looked beyond pissed. Probably because he was the one driving to the city and Point Place was, well, a little bit retired. “We need this over before it gets too dark, and knowing you two, this will take hours.”

“And what is this, anyway?” Eric asked, not wanting to call Hyde. He had already texted him, he was still with their friends and his goddaughter. And Jackie. “It’s not that I don’t like seeing you, guys… minus you Laurie,”

“Eric!”

“but you usually call little before coming… What’s going on?”

Red sighed, Laurie had crossed her arms over her chest and let her head fall behind like their father. They were so alike sometimes, it was scary. Yet, Eric’s eyes went to his mother. She looked nervous to say the least, and suddenly, a cold fear overcome him.

“Oh, no…” he murmured. “Are you—any of you is… like him?”

“What do you mean, dumbass?”

It couldn’t be. Eric looked to his father, to his sister, and to his mother. If any of them was like his friend, he would know. He had lived with them almost twenty years of his life, has known them for twenty two, it was impossible something like that could escape him.

Besides, that would make him a wizard, too. There was no damn magic in him. Eric was old enough to know this, and tired enough to don’t give a crap about it. Maybe in another time, he would love to be like Donna and Hyde. Maybe if his friend hadn’t lied to him like this, do something without his permission—

“Nothing.” he answered, trying to forget about last night. He had enough of that. “Yeah, we did have a fight last night. But it’s fine, we can figure things out.”

“No, honey, you don’t understand—“

“Understand what, mom?”

His mother’s silence gave him all answers and his stomach dropped with his entire spirit. More lies. How’s that he never noticed? Standing, he took his phone and looked at his brother’s number for long second before deciding against it and going for Jackie’s.

“Hey, Jackie—“ she answered immediately, he could hear Betsy’s tiny voice singing along Frozen on the other side.

In another day and another time, the idea of Betsy singing Disney songs in Hyde’s precious and badass vintage car would had been pleasant and happy, but right now it did nothing to him.

“Tell him I need him to come home right now, my parents are here and want to talk to us.” he waited for her to answer, the witch didn’t steal more of his time and just passed his message.

Yet, before hanging, she said: “You are lucky to have the family you got, try to understand.”

“What would you know, witch?”

She laughed. “You are just a scared kid, don’t you? We are almost there.” and she hang up.

Eric sighed and returned to his place at the table.

Donna had told him something similar, “maybe you are just scared” and the “it’s normal, you know? Even I was scared when my mom told me about my own powers, I can only imagine what that would be for non-users of magic”.

Why couldn’t he just let it go and forgive Hyde when he has obviously forgiven Donna for her tiny lie? This was Hyde, his best friend, his brother. Then again, maybe that was exactly the reason why he was so mad.

He adored Donna, he may even love her. But the long story he has with his friend, that was something else. Stronger at the moment. And in danger.

“He is almost here.” Eric told his family and decided to stare at some lost point on the table for now on.

The next time he looked up, was at the opening door. Hyde carrying two Krispy Kreme boxes, Jackie, Betsy and Fez entered between laughs.

“Uh—“ Hyde exclaimed, one hand waving at his adoptive family. “Hi. Sorry, was a little busy.”

Jackie looked at him as if expecting something, then he turned around and gave her a Krispy Kreme box before she arched an eyebrow. ‘What?’ he murmured, and for the way she eyed at the table, Eric understood she wanted to be introduced. Betsy was laughing at his side.

“Oh, yeah—Ma, pa. Laurie. This is Jackie.” he said, she stepped forward and smiled at them. “Our neighbor…”

“You are the witch!” Laurie said, Hyde shook his head. Eric looked at his sister immediately. “Hi, I’m Laurie!”

“Miss Jackie, you are a witch?” Betsy said.

Hyde moved to say something, but Jackie talked first as Laurie laughed and their father shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest. “No, no. it’s just an expression. Would you like to go over my apartment and play with the kitten?”

“Oh, but…” she looked at him and Eric smiled at her. “I just want to say hi first, please?”

“Go, go…”

Jackie walked to the table, one hand out to meet with Laurie’s and then Red’s. His mother actually stood up to greet her and Hyde left the other donuts box in the middle of the table as Betsy went to give kisses and hugs to everyone else.

Fez waited over one of the couches, Eric was still thinking about what Donna had told him last night: her cat was actually a human she punished for being a stalker and making Jackie’s life impossible. She meant every word of being protective of her sister, and that was also a little bit scary.

“Good luck…” he saw Jackie wish to Hyde, both her hands on the middle of his chest. “I’ll take care of Betsy.”

“Thank you.”

She smiled at him, and both looked at the other like waiting for something else but it didn’t happen. Jackie took Betsy’s hand and they walked together to the door with Fez behind.

So.

Hyde was now with her? Fuckitty fuck.

******

_Donna and Jackie’s apartment, 10:46 am._

Miss Jackie and Miss Donna had disappeared into their kitchen and Betsy followed Fez to Miss Jackie’s room.

It was a little messy to be an adult’s room, but it smelled sweet and the pastel colors of her bedsheets and clothes gave the place a familiar image for Betsy’s happy eyes.

Fez jumped to his own bed under one of Jackie’s night tables and Betsy followed him until she was sitting in front, patting his fur as he purred happily.

“You know, Fezy, I know Miss Jackie is truly a good witch.” She started, the cat looked at her with its big and yellow eyes. “God-daddy is a witch, too! Or… a magician? A wizard?” she thought of it and realized she’ll have to ask mommy or god-daddy about the difference later. “He has magic powers too!” she told her kitten friend.

The cat went out of his bed, slowly laying on her legs and Betsy started to pat him again. “I almost fell from the stairs of this building once. But god-daddy! You know what god-daddy did?” Fez looked up at her and waited for her answer. “He catch me with his magic powers! He can make things fly, Fezy! FLY!”

Her god-daddy knew a lot of magic tricks. He knew how to disappear stuff and put them in new places, how to make you fly, and how to start fire out of nowhere but on his fingers. But it was a secret. He had made her swear she was never saying it to anyone.

But Fezy wasn’t going to tell anyone, too. She could trust him.

“You think Miss Jackie likes god-daddy?” the cat seemed to say yes when he blinked. “That’s a yes?” he did it again, so maybe it was. “You think they will get married like my mommy and daddy, and have kids too?” the cat blinked twice. “What does that mean? No?” he blinked once. “That’s not fair, Fezy! God-daddy really likes Miss Jackie!”

“Betsy?” Miss Donna called her, she sounded near the door.

“I’m here, Miss Donna!” she answered, Fez was now getting away from her. “You are a bad boy, Fezy! God-daddy would do a good a boy-friend!”

Miss Donna entered the room, Fez looked at Betsy and blinked twice. She crossed her arms over her chest and before Miss Donna could take her, she pulled Fez’s tail and the cat hissed.

“Bad boy!”

******

_Eric and Hyde’s apartment, 11:02 am._

The quantity of rambling their mother was doing almost distracted him of the fact that his parents and older sister were here, and Laurie had called Jackie a witch in front of everyone, and Hyde was looking desperate to fly the room away.

In all their years together, Eric has never seen his mother this nervous and he could actually say the same about his best friend.

“Mom—“ he tried, and she went on about how much she, they, loved him and Hyde, and that whatever had happened between them shouldn’t matter that much after so many years of friendship and confidentiality.

Eric looked at Hyde, he looked back. Confidentiality seemed to not be something Hyde gave him as he thought, so his eyes went back to his mother.

“Christ, Kitty. You tell the kid already or I’ll do it!” Red menaced and Eric wanted to say thank you. “We have to hit the road soon, so please.”

“Mrs. Forman…” Hyde took her hand, they always seemed to have the better relationship in this room. “It’s fine, I’ll do it.”

“Crap, I’m not stupid!” Eric defended. “You and Laurie are witches! Oh my god! My life has ended!”

He stood, feelings everyone’s stares at his back and for a second, Eric thought of coming back to the table but nah. In the kitchen, he found a mercifulness cup of coffee and came back to his family to steal a donut from the Krispy Kreme box.

“It’s fine, stop stressing over it.” Eric said, surprising himself. Was it fine, really? He looked up at his worried mother.

“Do you—do you have any questions?” she murmured.

“Oh, I have plenty.” He said, then sat down again. “Like, why you never said anything? Why you let Hyde put a spell on me?” he stopped there and pulled at his own hair with a groan. “God! That sounds weird…” he sighed, and continued, “Why I don’t have powers? How the hell you managed to be a witch while I never found out? Was Hyde assigned to our house or was it my idea as I remember it? Since when did you know Hyde is a wizard too? And how you convinced dad to never say me anything? And—“

“See? This is why you weren’t called to the truth party, you are a dumbass!” his father accused and Eric shut his mouth in that instant. “Shut that trap and let your mother talk!” he said, Hyde smiled a little and Red shot him a stare. “You are next, pothead.”

All these years and he still called Hyde that… well. There are things that never change and Red Forman’s bad humor is one of them. Eric looked at his mother, but Hyde started to talk, explaining first how the girls had appeared in their life and how he started to suspect they were witches.

He talked about Fez, and Jackie’s powers as a seer, and Donna’s abilities with plants and nature. Then, about yesterday’s situation and the disapproving stare his mother gave Hyde surprised even Eric.

“You attacked that poor girl, how dare you?” she said, Laurie was laughing between Red and mom. “Laurie, quiet! This is serious!” she looked again at Hyde, and he lowered his stare like a called out puppy. “That girl is too tiny and a piece of nothing, what could she do to you? Don’t say that silly paralyzing spell! That’s a children’s spell!”

“Yeah, well—that was what I was trying to do, but I couldn’t imitate it.”

“Steven, honey…” she said, then sighed and her hand landed on Hyde’s. “I’ve told you before, as long as you refuse to learn, your magic won’t work as you wish.”

“Kitty, just tell the idiot why are we here already.” Red asked.

“Uh, sure…” she sighed. “Eric, honey. You used to know—about me and Laurie, and Steven.”

“What?”

Here we go. Another lie. Eric crossed his arms over his chest and his entire body shook with the new information. As a kid, he had met Hyde during a parent’s reunion at school and quickly they had become friends after he asked for protection and gave him money. So to suddenly listen that the reunion was actually a wizard’s one, well. That was something else.

“You remember when you fell from the Water Tower.” Laurie said, suddenly sounding serious. Eric only nodded. “You didn’t fell only just because you are stupid, someone pushed you.”

He looked at his friend slowly, Hyde maintained the contact for a few seconds, then lowered his eyes again. What the fuck?

“Who—?”

“Edna.” Hyde ended. “I tried to tell you. I mean it, she—she is dangerous, okay? I don’t know all the details. Hell, Jackie and Donna must know better than me. But she’s not exactly someone loved in the wizard community.”

“You got touched by the bad witch,” Laurie started, “so mommy and the little orphan tried to protect you with that ridiculous tattoo on your back. It was just a good coincidence that your mind blocked what happened that day.”

“That…” he swallowed, then signaled his sister. “That doesn’t explain why I don’t remember you guys have magic powers! Someone just doesn’t forget that!”

“I changed some of your memories, that way the protection spell would work better.” his mother confessed and Eric felt numb on his sit. “I know, honey, what this means and I know you probably don’t want to see me or listen to me right now, but you were young and we got scared. It was supposed to be temporal, but you were safe and—“

“All this crap to protect me…” Eric looked at her, then at Hyde. “Don’t you think I may be better knowing? I mean… look at this mess…”

“Yes, that’s why we thought, it was time for you to know. And decide.”

“Decide, what?”

His mother sighed, Laurie shrugged at her when she looked for help and Hyde seemed to make himself smaller on his sit. Red stood up, walked to the kitchen to serve himself and Eric knew this was going to be the longest day ever if no one did something in the next five seconds.

“Decide what, mom?” he insisted, his mother nodded.

“Do you want to keep the protection spell? Or do you want it off? If you broke it, the memories will come back.”

“Uh, I—“ there was a date and a ridiculous quote in the bottom of his back, it almost burned him thinking about it. “The tattoo will disappear?” mom shook her head. Eric blinked a couple of times. “Why I don’t have magic?”

“Oh, you do!” she said, Eric looked up immediately. “But—you are not a wizard. Not all children born from a witch are. Females are more likely to get the gen, especially if they are the first born.” Laurie smiled at that and Eric rolled his eyes. “We all have magic, but the gen is what give you the abilities to control and use it.”

“So, I will just have memories of Edna Hyde wanting to kill me?” she nodded, “And normal colds?” she nodded again, this time with the hint of a smile on her face. “Then, I want it off. Let’s get back to normal.”

Hyde wanted to protest, he could see it on his face. But Eric smiled up at him.

“It’s fine.” he assured to his friends. “I mean it.” Eric sighed and looked up at his mother, “And we better get this over, I have an important party tomorrow with the witch of my dreams.”

*******

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: The Girl’s party is here and so are Eric and Hyde, who may need a little talk after all. Hyde owes Jackie a date in the sky.
> 
> Thank you all for reading! Maybe I'll see you on [my tumblr](http://jacquelineshyde.tumblr.com/)? Have a good day!


	4. A Halloween Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Girl’s party is here and so are Eric and Hyde, who may need a little talk after all. Hyde owes Jackie a date in the sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY. Here is the last chapter, everyone! There’s nothing else to say but thank you for the support, because I know this was a weird story, a very unusual AU in the fandom, and that it took long. So really, thank you all for your comments, faves, and more.
> 
> I want to thank especially my friend NannyGirl, if it wasn’t for her help, I wouldn’t be able to publish anything ever. I owe her half my life. Thank you, dear!
> 
> Now… enjoy the chapter! I will be doing a writing lab back in my tumblr blog (user jacquelineshyde) around the 14th or the 15th, if you have any comments or questions about this story. I will be answering all of them! Thank you for everything!
> 
> If you liked this and you have tumblr, please consider rebloging the [original post](http://jacquelineshyde.tumblr.com/post/157224337895/absolute-beginners-chapter-iv-a-halloween-party) to support me! Thank you!

**Absolute Beginners**

**Chapter IV – A Halloween Party**

_Sunday 31 th, 2016. The Kelsos’ House. 01:41 am._

The stupor in their room didn’t bother her for the first time in almost two years, this was one of those occasions in which she remembered how young she actually was and Brooke kissed her husband back the second his lips returned from her breasts to her mouth.

Whatever the hell had Hyde put on those brownies, it made them stay in cloud nine and they had lost their reservations at that random fancy restaurant Donna had recommended them the night before, but who cares?

Their friend had left their daughter hours ago, Betsy had come home a happy little girl and she had gone to sleep without protestation as she always did. Suddenly in time and still wanting to make up for all these months, here they were at it again.

But they kissed again and his hips found a way to make her moan once more, and suddenly they were 19 and stupid again, laughing on a dirty bathroom as the sound of rock reminded them this was their stolen moment from their normal days.

Michael gave her a small look and she only nodded, screw sleeping. They had been waiting for this, it was like if their love had decided it was time to stop those vacations and inspiration was on, so _on_ right now.

Brooke wondered if Hyde would like to babysit their daughter for more weekends.

“You mean that before?” Michael asked over her belly, Brooke looked down and opened her legs a little more to see his face.

“What, baby?”

“That we should have another one.”

Betsy was four years old. If they wanted another kid, maybe this was the moment.

“You know, that means months of trying and then nine months without much action.”

“But it also means—we could have a little Michael.” he said, Michael was always enthusiast of having a big family and for two years by now, she was also fine with the idea.

“I already have a little Michael.” She smiled, her husband reacted at the joke a few seconds later, laughing with her.

“Honey, but that’s not little!” he said, they laughed together in the middle of the night and she wondered if they could remain like this for longer. “Brooke,” he said and he was suddenly so serious, it reminded her that he had grown up too, “I think we are ready. If you are worried this… whatever it was, this time without sex, will happen again, I promise you, I’m not letting it happen.”

“How?”

“We have to get a nanny, Brooke. Or… better. I’ll ask for the morning shift, while you work and Betsy goes to school… we’ll be fine.”

It moved her entire _all_ that he would do so, that he had thought of this too and that he was the one proposing it. This was like him asking her to marry him all over again, and her eyes filled with happy tears that never found release. She nodded.

“Alright! So let’s hit it!”

“Mich—MICHAEL!” she closed her legs and he laughed between them, over her core and her head fell back, laughing with him before her giggles became little moans again.

******

_Somewhere in the city, to The Kelsos’ home. 6:20 pm._

“She fell asleep.” Fez said from the back sit of the Lincoln and Hyde looked through the car’s mirror and nodded. “She also told me she has always known you are a wizard.”

“What?” Jackie looked at the cat.

“And that she knows you are a witch, Jackie.” he said, Jackie jumped on her sit and he smiled.

“Steven!” she turned to him in surprise, “What are we gonna do?”

“Let it be, doll.” he answered. “That little girl knows better than all of us, I’m not surprised she knows. Besides, she’s not dangerous or something.”

“Oh, you are the worst at keeping this a secret. You know we can get punished for this, right?”

“It’s a little girl!” he said, the lights went red and he groaned, trapped in this conversation. “Listen, we can convince her it’s all an act or something. Forman and Donna are probably going to get married tomorrow anyway, and Betsy is family, soooo…”

“So, what?” she crossed her arms over her chest, frowning.

“It’s not big deal, that.”

It truly wasn’t, right? A little girl couldn’t be dangerous to the magic world or whatever. She has known for a year by now and this was the first time she told someone about it. To a cat. Betsy didn’t know the cat talked, so there was no problem. Yet, Jackie seemed more upset with the passing seconds. Something was wrong.

“What about us, Steven?”

“Uh?”

“It didn’t mean anything for you? Yesterday? Today?” she said, the light finally went green and he drove thinking about all this. “You talk about Donna and Eric, and—“

“Calm down, Jackie… listen—“ he stopped, Fez was still in the back, sitting and moving his tail. “Can we talk about it later?”

Jackie looked at the back of the car and Hyde sighed, at least she understood what he was coming to. And this conversation—crap. He didn’t thought this that well, he just acted on his feelings and now—this conversation.

“Oh, me?” Fez said, there was something funny in his voice. “Don’t mind me, I’m just going to lay here, roll my tail around my body and sleep like a cute, chubby baby.”

“Fuck you, Fez.” Hyde suggested almost singing, the cat laughed and the sound of it still freaking him out. He looked at his side, Jackie had crossed her arms and was looking outside the window. “Are you two still having the party tomorrow?”

She didn’t answer and the silence make him want to puke. This wasn’t supposed to happen, they were supposed to still be in those terms of not liking the other or something, but no. Here he was.

“Yes.” she answered at the end. “Are you still going?”

“Yeah…” he looked at her from the corner of his eye, “If you want me to.”

“Okay.”

Fuck, this chick was such a pain in the ass when she wanted to. But well, to be honest, she wasn’t doing this truly from a hateful place or something truly bad, she was feeling hurt. And that wasn’t the idea at all.

“I want to be with you, Jackie.” he said, hoping that was the right answer. That was what he was feeling anyway. “I mean it.”

Yet she didn’t said anything.

Could it be possible she wasn’t expecting him to want that? Holy shit, this was—. He looked down to where her hand was holding his and blinked a couple of times before looking up at her happy smile and pink cheeks. He looked back at the road, at his friend’s house almost in front of them.

“Me, too. I want to be with you.”

“Alright,” he sighed “It’s done then.”

She laughed and grasped his hand harder after he kissed hers, this was better than he thought. Just a few hours with her, and he was already sure this was the happiest he has been in years.

******

_Monday 31 th, 2016. Eric and Hyde’s Apartment. 10:11 am._

After the spell was broken, nothing felt different.

Sitting at the bottom of his back, _‘In Spite Of All The Danger’_ could still be perfectly read and so did the date they had chosen to mean something when the tattoo was done. Eric looked at it on the mirror, his parents and sister had left half an hour ago and now, they had stayed the night and Laurie had bonded with his –he supposes—now girlfriend’s cat.

Boy. Boy-cat. Cat-boy. Whatever.

“Eric, do you want something to eat?” he heard Donna and he put back his shirt with a sigh. “You haven’t eaten anything real but a donut…” she said, Eric put on his shoes and walked to the door, the girl kept rambling since he didn’t gave her an answer. “And while delicious and good with coffee, I think you should eat something substantial, you know? We made some sandwiches and Hyde will help us with the party, so—“

“I’ll take one.” he said, after opening the door and finding Donna there with a shy expression. “You okay?”

“Yeah…”

She looked nervous, has been looking like this ever since Saturday night and there was something moving inside him that made him grab her by the shoulders right now, and Donna looked at him. They smiled to the other before kissing, it seemed like if they’ve been doing this since forever, and the connection between them stayed there even with yesterday’s impression.

“I’m not mad at you, Donna.” he said, “I’m not mad at Hyde either, I guess… I understand. A little. But, I’m glad I know now.”

“Yeah, well—not sure if this is the best way to start a relationship. Like… Oh, I like sushi, and I love cats, and oh I’m a witch, by the way.”

He laughed at that before kissing her again, and again. “I like that. Donna, you are the witch of my dreams.”

She threw a raspberry at him for that, laughing freely as she walked back to the living room and Eric rolled his eyes. Yeah, this was fine.

“I meant it!” he said, she looked back at him with a big smile.

“I know you did, nerd.”

******

_The girls and boys’ building, 1:38 pm._

“Who’s Beulah?”

Jackie looked at Eric immediately and Donna smiled to herself, knowing what was next. The boxes with the few things their mother send them for their party were being delivered at the moment, and the boys were helping them with it. One of them had the name in big, black, capital letters.

“Nobody—“

“That’s Jackie.”

“DONNA!” her sister said, Eric looked at her with curiosity and Donna sent a kiss to Jackie’s direction.

“Wait, you are Beulah?” Eric asked Jackie, cracking a smile as Hyde passed him to take the box with said name. “Oh, that’s a story I wanna know. Why they call you that?”

Jackie crossed her arms over her chest, Hyde took the box and looked between Eric and Jackie, probably wondering what was going on between them now. “Nobody calls me that! That’s not my—“

“It’s her middle name.” she interrupted, finishing the papers for the deliverer guy. “Jacqueline _Beulah_ Burkhart.”

“What?” Hyde smiled after hearing that, looking at her sister with certain spark on his eyes. Donna smiled at that. “You have an ugly second name? Best news ever.”

“No! I don’t! That’s not my name!”

“It is!” she insisted, taking the last box and walking the stairs to their building. “J.B.B.! Jackie Beulah Burkhart!”

“Oh, my god! DONNA! I’M GOING TO DECK YOU, TRAITOR!”

“Your girlfriend’s name’s Beulah, Hyde. I will never let you live that one.”

Hyde laughed at that and Donna walked inside, listening to him and Eric joke about her sister’s unusual middle name. Jackie was certainly going to kill her later, but right now, it was funny to hear them being meanly friendly to each other.

Eric’s capacity of forgiveness and good heart will be always one of her favorite things about him. Funny how her sister and him had that in common without knowing.

“Fezy!” Jackie called once they entered their apartment. “Are you going to help or what?”

“I’m sorry, I can’t.” he announced, laying on the couch. “I’m using my human hour for the party.”

Donna groaned, this mean only one thing. “You going to try and woo Nina again, isn’t it?”

“Fez, you know she doesn’t like you.” Jackie said, the boys left the boxes were she indicated and Hyde’s hand went immediately to the her lower back once he was done, both looking at each other as a new conversation was started between them and Donna smiled.

“She would if you people would help me romance her!” he said, jumping to Eric’s shoulder and he didn’t even move as he has been getting used to this. “But nooo, all you’re doing is being head over heels for these two simple humans—“ Jackie looked at him, ready to correct him when Fez extended a paw to her direction, “and wizard!” he said, Jackie smiled and went back to open the boxes with Hyde.

“Are you jealous, kitten?” Eric asked, wining a paw to his face. “Ow!”

“Fezy!” Jackie called him out. “Don’t do that, people will think we are bad cat mothers!”

“Okay, if you say that again, I’m going to explode.” Hyde said, making her and Eric laugh. “You sound like a total crazy cat lady, Beulah.”

“STEVEN!”

******

_Jackie’s room, 6:29 pm_

Her dress wasn’t ironed. HER DRESS WASN’T IRONED. A scream died in her throat the second she realized this, throwing the thig from its place in her closed to her bed, hands on her waist, thinking about this offence against her nerves her own closet had done to her.

Donna was ready, she was also in the rooftop already, taking care of their guests and she wasn’t, she was on her damn underwear, and her dress wasn’t ironed, for god’s sake.

Jackie tried to calm down, her shoulders felt like rocks and she moved to her bed, knowing she will have to do the job herself, no matter how much she ha—“FUCK!” the scream finally came out when her toe fingers got hit with her closet’s door.

Both her hands flied to the door, head resting on it, tears following the pain she was feeling through her entire body. How something as useless as toe fingers could feel so much? Today couldn’t be worse, definitely.

“Jackie?” except maybe it could, she realized as her new boyfriend’s voice sounded to the other side of her bedroom door. “Hey, are you okay in there?”

“I’m fine…” she answered, but her voice sounded as unsure as her walking was now. “Just—hit my fingers, it’s all.”

“Uh.” he answered, then knocked on the door again. “Is Fez in there? Donna can’t find him.”

“What…?”

The cat was, in fact, in her room, sleeping over her fluffy pink pillow and her eyes opened wide. If he was here, that means he’s been in there ever since she took a bath, which by its own mean he could easily had a pick to her nakedness, and another yell followed her voice.

“Fezy, get out of the room!” she said, scaring the cat awake, who immediately got out the bed and run to the door. “Oh my god!” she followed him, covering herself with her used and slightly wet towel, “I’m sorry!”

“I didn’t see anything, I swear!” he said once he run to the room’s corner, giving her his back as a way to show he wasn’t looking at her body.

“Jackie?” Steven said, and she shivered with the abundance of feelings that were eating her now. “Hey, can I come in?”

“Just… wait.” she said. “Fez, I need you to get out of the room, so I can get dressed.”

“Okay…” he said, his head was lowered to the ground and he walked blind to the opening door. “Good luck, she’s over stressed.”

“Fezy!” Jackie said, Steven had stepped aside the second she opened the door wide and yelled to the cat, who was now running to Donna’s room. “Oh, no. You must think I’m such a bitch…”

Steven looked at her eyes and only at her eyes while speaking, smiling to her and covering one of her cheeks with his hand. “Absolutely not.” he said, “Are you okay?”

“Super.” She answered, letting him in even when she was on her underwear. He stayed at the door, looking away from her towel-covered body. “It’s okay… it’s only underwear.”

“You didn’t sound happy about Fez being here.”

“Fez is not my boyfriend, Steven.” she reminded him, “Close the door, please.”

“Uh…”

The door was closed after that, and he didn’t move even when she left the towel fall to the floor, searching for the iron on her closet and cursing the bunch of things she had to move to find it. When she looked out again, Steven was still standing near the door.

“Are you okay?”

“Super.” He said, too. Jackie smiled at walked to him, leaving the iron on her bed before cradling his face on her hands and kissing him softly, eyes closed and almost on her tip-toes. “That’s better.” he answered grinning.

“Oh, you dressed in black!”

He shrugged, and she got to admire his all black attire as she and Donna had suggested. All wizard dress in white and/or black during this day, and they weren’t going to be an exception. The party was supposed to be of costumes, but the boys didn’t have any for the night. When they heard how she and Donna were going to dress up, Donna and Eric had the idea of dressing in black, and Hyde had said no.

Yet, here he was.

“You look amazing!” her hands toyed with the three open buttons of his black shirt and the hair on his chest she could see.

The way she wanted him, that was something new for her. Desire was never strange to her, but this kind was. She has never wanted someone as much as she wants him, Jackie thought with her fingers touching his chest; and she was also sure that he wanted her back just as much, if the way his finger were touching her waist said something.

“Hey…” he murmured, her yes followed his tone to his face and he smiled at her. “You need help?”

“Maybe? I’m such a mess!” she said, giving into the stress. Having this party was supposed to be fun, not this stressful. “Not exactly the best thing to see during the first day of a relationship…”

“Maybe…” he answered, his fingers brushed her hair and she didn’t realized when she had cuddle to his chest, but she was now too comfy to runaway from his arms. “But you are a damn beautiful mess, Beulah.”

“You had to ruin it!” she slapped his chest, laughing with him. “I just have to iron this thing and do something about my hair, and hope no one is asking about me upstairs.”

“Everyone is asking about you upstairs.”

“Nooo!” she said, giving him the iron’s cable. “Connect that thing, please.”

“Yes, dear.”

******

_Jackie’s room, 6:35 pm._

Jackie’s damn panties were _gorgeous_.

Or maybe it was her ass on them, or the way her legs looked as she moved around with her dress and hair still messy. Her matching bra was also taking his attention while he sat down on her bed and looked at her finishing her attire of the night. When the dress descended on her body, a shiver left goosebumps on him and Hyde swallowed hard.

The way she wanted her, man. He was going to get crazy if he didn’t touch her in the next five seconds or so.

“You don’t have to stay with me, you can go upstairs and be with your friends if you want.”

“Not a problem, doll.”

Her smile brightened her entire face and she sat down at his side with her makeup and a little mirror.

This was new for him. In fact, most things around her felt new. From the magic to him sitting down in silence, looking at her do her makeup. He has never been this patient, no matter how beautiful the girl may be. But Jackie—it seemed like he could do anything and everything for and with her. That was actual magic.

Upstairs, Kelso and his family had arrived and seemed happier than months ago, even Betsy seemed to be as calm and _sappy_ as her parents. Forman was already following Donna around and a lot of people were there, waiting for Jackie to stick her nose around with them. But right now, she was here with him, in silence as her fingers brushed her eyebrows and red covered her lips.

“Hey…” he said again, she also had the power of leaving him without words, even when she was doing nothing.

His fingers caressed the skin of her feet and she looked at him with a little smile, then went back to her face and he admired the natural makeup she was now wearing. Once the mirror was left aside and she had closed her little purse, he leaned forward and took her lips to taste the cherry of her lipstick.

The sensation make him smile, if he kept on kissing her every chance he had, they will never make it to the party but right now, that idea sounded marvelous to him, and since she wasn’t stopping him either, actually making them lay on her bed as their kissing got heavier and heavier, then it was great news.

“Ow…” she exclaimed, it sounded like a moan and something inside him dropped. “Steven…” she sighed before kissing him again, and again.

He wasn’t a teenager anymore, but if he could spend the rest of the night just kissing her, he would be more than happy to do so.

“You two!” they heard a knock on the door, Fez was calling. “Stop doing each other and get up there before Donna has a heart attack!” he said, for the steps, he supposed he was on his human form already.

“Uh…” Jackie moved, making him sit down back on the mattress and she tried to fix her hair a little. “We should get going…”

“Yeah… you are not going anywhere like that.” he said, signaling her face. “Red all over.”

“So are you!” she said, standing to look at herself on her vanity’s mirror, laughing once she saw the clues of their make out session on her face. When he took a peek on himself, Hyde couldn’t help but smile, both looking at each other’s face covered in red on the mirror. “You are pure magic, Steven.”

“Crap, woman. That was damn corny!”

“You take that back or you are leaving like this, my makeup is water proof!” she said, holding her make up remover far from him.

“Oh, so that’s how things are?”

“That’s how things are!”

“YOU TWO!” Fez repeated. “I’m losing my human hour waiting for you! MOVE THOSE ASSES!”

******

_The rooftop party, 6:47 pm._

His daughter was jumping around Eric and his new chick, Donna, who was dressed like a classic witch. Not a sexy one, just one of those boring, black and long dress, witches with pointy hats and lose long hair. Eric always had a good eye for girls but they always turned out to be kind of like him: nerdy and boring.

Maybe that’s why he ended up marrying the hottest girl in town, who also happened to be a brain and a sexy piece of everything deep down.

“There they are!” Brooke exclaimed, signaling at Hyde and Jackie, who was also dressed like a boring witch. “Oh my god, is Hyde going to a funeral or something?”

“It’s the dead of his single days. Accurate clothes for the occasion, Brooke.” he replied and his wife slapped his arm without really wanting to hurt him, his arms rounded her in return and she laughed when his lips touched her neck.

Ever since they got high on Hyde’s brownies, things had been nice. Not sex-depended nice like when they were teenagers, but calm and corny kind of nice. Even reading to Betsy last night was awesome and they had got to sleep cuddle into each other’s arms and wake up to attend to their daughter together like if the task wasn’t tiresome some times.

A day off, that’s all they needed.

“You think that’s gonna last?” she wondered, Kelso looked at his friend and his also new chick and a small smile appeared on his face.

“Maybe.” he said. “We know Hyde, he never does relationships. But for what Donna and Eric said, he persuaded for this one. So… maybe?”

“I hope so.” Brooke said, turning around to hug his neck and look into his eyes. “It would be nice to see Hyde happy in a relationship for once, and to have Jackie around too.”

“Yeah, Betsy really likes her.”

“Mh-hmm.” she exclaimed, soon kissing his lips and smiling in their kiss before someone clearing their throat distracted them. “Oh! Talking about the king of Rome!”

Hyde arched an eyebrow. “This early and already gossiping about me? This is going to be a long night.”

“You are everyone’s favorite news right now, buddy!” he said, Jackie smiled at Hyde’s side, her arm was around his.

She was a pretty lady, alright. Hot, too. A piece of nothing, but incredibly pretty and just—there was something about her. But looking at her at Hyde’s side, it felt almost like a sin to look at her. She was Hyde’s chick now, and it was like if the mermaid effect had gone with the news.

“You two look great!” Jackie said, “How was date day?”

“Awesome!” he answered, “We didn’t’ do anything but do it!”

“Michael!”

Jackie and Hyde laughed together, it was like seeing _Death And Destruction_ , finally together and ready to take over the world. When he found Eric’s eyes in the crowed place, he shrugged and Kelso understood he had been right about his friends. This was going to be a blast.

“God-daddy!” Betsy run into Hyde’s legs. “Let’s fly!”

“Still with that?” Brooke put her hands on her waist, looking down at her daughter. “How about you let your godfather have a free night from magic?” she said, Jackie giggle for some reason and Hyde slapped her thigh to one side playfully.

Someone was happy. It actually made him smile, he has known Eric and Hyde for a very long time, and he knew Hyde’s problems with relationships. This was a nice change, and Jackie was truly something. So yeah, this could be good for everyone.

“Hey, guys.” Eric greeted with his girlfriend taking his hand, another boy was following them. “You look like when you returned from your honeymoon.”

“This was better than our honeymoon.” Brooke said, Betsy had moved to greet the new guy.

“Oooooh.” Hyde and Eric exclaimed at the same time.

“Even without the beach and the sun? You are giving me some of that…” Eric told Hyde and he slapped his stomach, making Donna and Jackie giggle. “Alright, then no.”

“Uh, hello.” The guy told Betsy. “Do I know you?”

“Fez!” she said.

“Honey, Fez is Jackie and Donna’s kitten…” Kelso tried to correct, Hyde laughed hiding his face on Jackie hair and she shook her head. “What?”

“Hey, guys. This is Fez. We… named the cat after him.” Donna said, the guy named Fez smiled and waved his hand between their group.

“For no racist reasons, by the way.” he said, Jackie shook her head again. “It’s for cute and nice.”

“For being pretentious, too.” Eric added and Fez looked at him with this strange frown, he seemed like a funny guy.

“That cute kitten is not pretentious, scrawny ass!”

Yeah, this guy was fun.

******

_Rooftop Party, 7:29 pm_

Hyde and Jackie seemed to have their own world. It was such a weird thing to see his friend this calm around a girl just the day before he was claiming to hate, but Eric realized he should had known better. Maybe listen to Donna a little bit closer. His own dislike for Jackie had blinded him from the truth, and after all that had happened, well.

It didn’t matter. Hyde seemed calm, damn happy. So yeah, fine.

“Have you talked to him?” Donn asked at his side, he looked at her pretty face and smiled while shaking his head ‘no’. “Why not?”

“Well, I don’t know if you remember good, but he didn’t come to the apartment last night and you didn’t leave either.” She laughed at that, he followed with a small kiss on her cheek. “Then this morning we were all working on this. That, by the way, rocks.”

It was truth, the party turned out to be good. Even knowing that more than half this people were wizards and witches, the ambient was great and fun, and the music on point. If he kept drinking maybe his rhymes will start to appear on his actual sentences to other people, Eric decided to leave his glass on the nearest table.

“You are avoiding him.” Donna managed to say, even when he thought they had killed that little conversation.

He turned around to see her. “No! He just… has been all day glued to your sister, it’s insane.”

“Because he is avoiding you, too.”

Yeah, basically. Eric nodded, but decided it wasn’t worth to keep talking about it, even when Donna had crossed her arms and was waiting for something else, maybe for him to grow a pair and go talk to his own adoptive brother.

“Look,” he started after noticing there was no way out of this, “if he wants to talk, he will reach me. You don’t know him that well yet, but he is—God, complicated stays short to what he is.”

“Mh-hm.” She exclaimed, arms still crossed and small smile on her face. “He is coming right now, Betsy in hand.”

“What…?”

“Uncle Eric!” Betsy jumped to him with open arms. “We are going to fly!”

“Shhh…” Hyde exclaimed, Betsy smiled at him and nodded. “Forman, come with us.”

“Where…?” he didn’t have much time to ask, Donna had took his hand and soon they were walking towards Jackie at the top of the stairs.

When he looked back at Kelso and Brooke, they were still laughing with Fez and that girl, Nina. Their daughter was happily jumping around, saying they were going to _fly_ , and he looked at Hyde’s back, the memory of his friend lifting his hand towards him, trying to stop his fall back at Point Place when they were kids, appeared to make him understand what was going on.

“Oh, boy…” he murmured.

“It’s going to be quick.” Hyde said to everyone, Jackie nodded wrapping her arm around his again. “I’ve never done this for so many people before.”

“Maybe we can help?” Donna looked at Jackie. “Come on, wiki-witch, tell me we can help.”

“We can pass energy to him, but we have been drinking. I don’t recommend it.”

Eric was feeling lost in this conversation, Betsy kept jumping in front of them, not caring about this weird talk the adults were having. They descended the stairs until they were in the streets. Walking around, he realized they were going to enter the building behind theirs. It was still under construction, and the tower was higher than theirs for two floors.

“Just in case, Betsy will be the last one.” He said. “I go first, in case I do something stupid.”

“That sounds dangerous…” Eric said, but no one seemed to listen.

Once on the rooftop, Jackie carried Betsy and they walked slowly to the edge. It didn’t had a balcony yet, their feet rose the limit and he felt vertigo like he always did when highs were involved. Looking up at other place, he missed the show Hyde was putting on by a few seconds when the girls started to laugh.

“Shut up, I’m the only one who can make us fly even having to rub the damn item.”

The girls were still laughing, but tried to silence themselves. “Sorry, baby…” Jackie said. They walked slowly to the edge and Hyde started again, rubbing the eyeball ring. “Careful…”

“Don’t worry, I do this all the time.” He confessed, smiling at them. “Wait, let a new song to start.”

Eric looked at their building. They could not only hear the party, but also see it. He wondered if someone would see them, but he was also sure the girls wouldn’t suggest Hyde to do this if it was somehow dangerous for their identities.

“I love that song!” Jackie said when a Bowie song started at their backs. Hyde laughed, and Eric looked at him—for God’s sake, he put a foot in the air and it stayed there, like if co—the other had stayed, too! Hyde was standing in the air.

“Okay…” he looked at him. “Come on, Forman.”

“Nnnnnn—no. No.”

“Come on! It’s gonna be fun!” Donna tried to cheer him to do it.

“He is afraid of heights.” Hyde commented with a smile. “It’s fine, come on.”

The song kept its echo around them and he swallowed, looking down and oh god, god, god— “I don’t think so—“

“Alright, I’ll go!” Donna said. She kissed his cheek and walked to the edge. Again, Hyde rubbed his item and after a few seconds, invited her to walk into—she did. Fast, almost jumping, a nervous but joyful laugh filling his ears. “Oh my god!” she jumped to grab Hyde’s arm, looking down. “This is crazy! Eric! Come with us!”

“No…”

“Okay, Donna? Don’t… grab me, I can lose concentration and if so, we are dead. Like, super dead.”

“Oh, sorry!” she walked away, turning to look at the city lights.

“Forman, hold Betsy for Jackie.”

“I wanna go, god-daddy!”

“You’ll do, but first let me get Jackie with me.” He said, his hand was calling for his girlfriend and when Jackie gave him Betsy, Eric saw her walking towards Hyde who repeated the same movements until she was taking both his hands with a big smile.

She put her feet over his when he touched the edge, hands over the other’s. Eric swallowed hard, probably squeezing Betsy in his arms too much but the girl only clapped when Hyde pushed Jackie with him and their feet floated together, not standing, but actually floating.

Donna started to clap after seeing it, asking if she could do that too. When Hyde explained he only thought of it and it happened, she seemed to try but nothing happened. Jackie kept her arms around Hyde’s waist, looking down with a big smile and then at him, bright as day.

“You are amazing!” she said.

Eric swallowed again.

“My turn!” Betsy said with her arms above her head, expecting Hyde to pick her up.

But he was still drunk on Jackie and didn’t react until she laughed on his face, brushing her lips with his before jumping to grab Donna’s hand. Hyde looked at them and floated in front. Like—an illusion, a dream. He was truly flying right in front of Eric and, with a hand in front, he did the same with Betsy.

It felt like if air had tenderly taken her away from Eric’s arms, and Hyde was directing it with his hand, slowly getting the girl close to his hand until she took it in an embrace of giggles lost in Donna and Jackie’s laughs.

Eric watched them move in front of him and noticed Hyde’s strong grip on Betsy’s hand before Jackie and Donna started to chase each other on tin air. It was chilly around him and his mother was a witch, just like his sister, and just like his own girlfriend. And his best friend, and his best friend’s girlfriend. They were floating around with Hyde’s magic in front of him.

“Wait!” he yelled when Hyde gave him his back, his friend looked back at him with a raised eyebrow. “Uh—“ Eric took a long breathe and never felt as strong as right now. “I’m going—I’m going with you.”

Hyde smiled big and bright, his finger rubbing his ring already before he offered his free hand to him. “That’s the spirit, Forman.”

Swallowing, Eric’s step didn’t make a sound, covered by Donna’s terrible singing voice as she made Jackie laugh while repeating Bowie’s _Absolute Beginners_ , dancing at Hyde’s back. Eric closed his eyes; he took his friend’s hand with his opposite, looking like if they were shaking hands, and when he opened his eyes—they were right in front of the other, Betsy jumping between them, congratulating him because he was flying too.

“Holy--!” he shouted, jumping into Hyde’s body to keep from falling, even when it wasn’t happening.

He didn’t move. Hyde didn’t shoved him aside either, he only laughed with Betsy and the girls when they noticed him hugging his friend. Slowly, Eric’s heart started to calm down and his hands were less sweaty. He looked up and let go of Hyde, except that his friend was still taking his hand, trying to make him steady so there wouldn’t be a tragedy.

“It’s okay, I got you.” Hyde said. It sounded exactly like what he said after he run down the Water Tower to see him, years ago.

It was a brief moment, but Eric saw certain fear in his friend’s eyes and he swallowed before giving up. They couldn’t keep avoiding each other like this anymore. “You are still my best friend, you know?”

“Uh?”

“We grow up together, you are more like a brother to me” Eric sighed. “I… understand. What happened, why you did that.” He explained and Hyde’s grip on his hand felt lazy. Betsy was looking between them, so Eric cleared his throat and smiled at his friend. “It’s okay.”

“Alright.” He nodded, giving a squeeze to his hand and Eric did the same when he saw Hyde smiling at him. “Let’s go.”

Donna was at his side in a second, she took both his hands and he looked at her and got lost in her lips with Jackie’s giggle behind them. It was still the best sensation in the world, and he couldn’t wait for the many days and many nights to come.

“Hey,” he murmured.

She smiled back, “Hey there. You are flying!”

It felt like walking on the street, as normal as it. They couldn’t actually fly, they were walking and feeling the air like on top of a roller coaster. Hyde though, he was the one who could truly fly. And he did with Betsy and Jackie taking his hands. The song was over when they made a circle and Eric sighed.

“Happy Halloween, dear.” He said to Donna before kissing her again and having to run back to the rooftop when Hyde announced he was starting to feel tired.

They walked together back to their own rooftop, to the girls’ party and the rest of the real world, a world Eric wasn’t sure what would bring him but he was happy to be part of now.

Donna’s pointy hat suddenly flied away from her head and when they looked back, Hyde was moving it with his finger, away from her hand’s reach as he did the same with Jackie’s.

Eric stopped to laugh at them running around, trying to get their hats from Hyde’s power while Betsy ran with them. Donna’s landed on his head, Jackie’s on Betsy’s and they looked at Hyde, Jackie with arms crossed over her chest and Donna with hers on her waist.

“Not funny, Hyde!” she said. “It’s dangerous, someone could see us!”

“It’s Halloween!” he announced, walking past them to put an arm over his shoulders and take Betsy by the hand. “We are free tonight!”

They rolled their eyes before looking at the other, Hyde dragged Eric with him when they laughed.

“Run!” he said, carrying Betsy who was laughing too.

And they ran from the witches behind them who were menacing with turning them into a ferret and an armadillo if they didn’t return their hats.

*******

******

*****

**_End_.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading! Maybe I'll see you on [my tumblr](http://jacquelineshyde.tumblr.com/)? Have a good day!

**Author's Note:**

> Next Chapter: Hyde will have the weirdest of the conversation with someone unlikely. Jackie will get to help The Kelsos with him, while Donna and Eric will get to a new level in their relationship.
> 
> Thank you all for reading! Maybe I'll see you on [my tumblr](http://jacquelineshyde.tumblr.com/)? Have a good day!


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